Miliband urged to save net zero through higher bills in the South
The Energy Secretary is likely to miss his target of making the electricity grid 95pc carbon free by the end of the decade unless he embraces so-called zonal pricing, a new report from the Lords industry committee warned.
Such a change would mean splitting Britain's single electricity market into almost a dozen regions, with the price of power determined by supply and demand within each area rather than set nationally.
In practice, prices would surge in London, southern England and the Midlands where renewables are in short supply, but plummet in Scotland because of its plentiful wind farms.
The change would therefore be hugely controversial. However, it would encourage companies to build renewable power infrastructure nearer to where prices are high, cutting down the amount of new pylons, cables and transformers needed to achieve a decarbonised grid.
'Regional zonal pricing should enable better use of existing grid capacity and lower the cost of electricity, provided that the transition and its risks are managed well,' the report said.
Even with such changes, Mr Miliband's clean power by 2030 pledge looks increasingly likely to fail, the Lords warned.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton, the committee's chairman, said: 'Given the scale of changes needed to the planning, regulation and delivery of energy infrastructure, and the UK's historic [poor] record of delivering major infrastructure projects, our report questions the feasibility of meeting the clean power target.
'Time is already running out, and there is no room for complacency. The Government and the sector must ramp up their efforts to have a chance of success.'
Zonal pricing has been under consideration in the review of electricity market arrangements initiated by the previous government three years ago. An announcement is now imminent.
Government officials have advised Mr Miliband to press ahead with the policy, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) has refused to say if he favours the idea. Mr Miliband has insisted he will not make any change that leads to higher bills for people.
Regardless, the machinery for zonal pricing is already being put in place.
Ofgem recently announced plans for 11 'Regional Energy Strategy Boards'. Nine would be in England with one each in Scotland and Wales, all overseen by the National Energy System Operator (Neso).
The boards would be similar to the municipal electricity and gas boards that oversaw energy supplies before privatisation, comprising local councillors and energy company representatives.
Julian Leslie, Neso's chief engineer and director of strategic energy planning, said the boards would 'ensure that local communities play a central role in planning how they decarbonise and how their contributions support national strategic energy planning'.
Sam Richards, of Britain Remade, a pro-growth campaign group, said the UK needed a 'clean energy revolution to lower bills and create high-quality jobs'.
He added: 'Moving to zonal pricing is a crucial step in achieving this ... It would help make smarter use of our existing grid, bring down electricity costs and attract the investment needed to build clean energy where it's most abundant.'
A Desnz spokesman said: 'We need new infrastructure to protect family and national finances with energy security, through clean home-grown power we control.'
The three years of discussions around zonal pricing have generated growing tensions in the UK energy industry.
John Pettigrew, the National Grid chief executive, last month spoke out against it, warning the disruption would be a huge distraction. Hitachi, suppliers of half the transformers, inverters and switch gear vital to the UK's 'great grid upgrade', have issued similar warnings. Others are strongly in favour, including Greg Jackson, the Octopus Energy boss.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
1 Magnificent High-Yield Stock Down 15% to Buy and Hold Forever
Key Points A post-coronavirus pandemic rally has petered out, leaving the oil giant down some 15% from its highs. The stock's dividend yield is above the industry norm, suggesting it is an attractive income choice. Plus, some company-specific headwinds that had been holding the shares down are abating. 10 stocks we like better than Chevron › An inflation spike coming out of the coronavirus pandemic helped to boost the profits of energy companies. But after hitting a peak, oil and natural gas prices have come back down. That has taken the wind out of the sector's sails, but one of the industry's largest competitors -- Chevron's (NYSE: CVX) -- performed even worse than its closest competitor and is still down over 15% from its highs. There's still a chance to buy the stock while it has a well above average yield. Here's what you need to know. What goes up always goes down Oil and natural gas are commodities prone to large and often rapid price swings. So the ups and downs around the pandemic aren't really that unusual. Still, investors react to the price swings in fairly predictable fashion. When energy prices rise, Wall Street tends to boost the shares of oil and gas producers. The reverse happens when energy prices fall. That's the big picture for Chevron's price decline since the oil price rally turned into an oil price decline. However, there are some other factors at play with this energy industry giant. Notably, a large acquisition (Hess) got stuck in court because of complaints about the deal from Chevron's competitors. And Chevron's investment in Venezuela is an off again/on again political headache. Both issues were negatives not too long ago, helping to keep Chevron's shares depressed. Even more so than its closest peer, ExxonMobil. The end result is that, even now, Chevron is offering an attractive investment opportunity. Notably, the stock's dividend yield is 4.4%. Exxon's yield is 3.7%. The average energy stock's yield is 3.2%. And the S&P 500 index's yield is a scant 1.2%. This is an opening you won't want to miss if you are looking to invest in the energy sector. Chevron is built to survive the energy cycle For starters, Chevron's company-specific headwinds are abating. Its deal to buy Hess has been approved and completed. And while Venezuela will always be a sore point, the headwinds have evened out around this investment for the time being. Thus, the overhang from these issues is largely gone, which helps to explain Chevron's recent stock price rally, which has been stronger than the rally of Exxon's shares. What's more, it is important to keep in mind that the outsized yield is on very solid ground. Chevron has increased its dividend annually for a huge 38 consecutive years. And it has one of the strongest balance sheets among its integrated energy peers. This diversified and financially strong energy giant is built to survive the inherent ups and downs in the energy patch. There's still time to act, if you act quickly To be fair, there will always be risk here because of the nature of the energy sector. But the reward today looks very attractive, given the relatively attractive yield Chevron is offering. If you are looking for an energy investment, this one should be close to the top of your buy list. And given the strength of Chevron's business and the success it has had navigating oil price volatility, it is the kind of energy stock that even a conservative dividend investor can buy and hold for the long term. Should you invest $1,000 in Chevron right now? Before you buy stock in Chevron, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Chevron wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $649,544!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,113,059!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025 Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Magnificent High-Yield Stock Down 15% to Buy and Hold Forever was originally published by The Motley Fool Error al recuperar los datos Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dollar steady near multi-week lows as Fed rate-cut bets build, yen rises
By Kevin Buckland and Lucy Raitano TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar rose slightly against other major currencies on Thursday, but stayed close to multi-week lows as bets that the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates next month ticked higher. Bucking the trend was the yen, with the dollar hitting a three-week low against the Japanese currency after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the Bank of Japan needs to raise rates again soon, while the Fed cuts aggressively. Rising expectations for monetary easing combined with increasing institutional cryptocurrency investment powered bitcoin to a new record peak earlier in the session. Fed rhetoric has turned broadly more dovish on signs of a cooling U.S. labour market, while President Donald Trump's tariffs are yet to add significantly to price pressures. Traders see a Fed rate cut on September 17 as a near certainty, according to LSEG data, and even lay around 7% odds on a super-sized half-point reduction. "For the markets, it's not even a matter of if the Fed cuts interest rates in September, it's a question of how much," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at "Signs of a downturn in the labour market have pushed futures to bake in a series of rate cuts before the end of the year." The Fed also continues to be under intense political pressure to ease. Trump has repeatedly criticised Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates sooner, even threatening to oust him before Powell's term expires in May. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday called for a "series of rate cuts," and said the Fed could kick off the policy easing with a half-point cut. Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING, said a 50 bps rate cut is not very realistic right now. "In order for the market to price 50 basis points in, we would probably need some indication from other Fed members that they are somewhat open to the idea," he said. Traders are now looking ahead to U.S. PPI figures for July due later in the session. "If that comes in soft or below expectations that can add a little bit of easing," said ING's Pesole. Bessent said the BOJ had gotten "behind the curve" by delaying rate hikes. "Bessent's comments are having a strong impact on USDJPY," said Norihiro Yamaguchi, an economist at Oxford Economics. At the same time, "gains in the yen are being accelerated by low liquidity in the market as fewer market participants are around this week" due to the Obon holiday, he said. The U.S. dollar dropped as much as 0.8% to 146.22 yen on Thursday, its weakest since July 24, and was last down 0.5%. The euro was down 0.24% at $1.1677, coming off Wednesday's peak of $1.1730, a level last seen on July 28. The pound barely reacted to UK GDP data that showed the economy slowed less than expected in second quarter. Sterling was last down 0.1% at $1.35645. Meanwhile, bitcoin earlier hit its first record peak since July 14, pushing as high as $124,480.82 before trimming gains and was last down 1% at around $121,685. Bitcoin was already underpinned by increased institutional money flows this year in the wake of a spate of regulatory changes spearheaded by Trump, who has billed himself the "cryptocurrency president." In the latest move, an executive order last week paved the way to allow crypto assets in 401(k) retirement accounts. "Corporate treasuries like MicroStrategy and Block Inc. continue to buy bitcoin," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore. "Technically, a sustained break above $125,000 could propel bitcoin to $150,000." The Australian dollar had earlier advanced as much as 0.4% to the highest since July 28 at $0.65685, but was last down 0.16%.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Street preacher who lost Spectator libel case to challenge High Court ruling
An Islamic street preacher who lost a High Court libel case against The Spectator and the magazine's associate editor has said he will be appealing against the decision. Mohammed Hegab, known online as Mohammed Hijab, sued the publication and Douglas Murray over an article that alleged he was a 'street agitator' who whipped up his followers and made disparaging comments about Hindus in the wake of the 2022 Leicester riots, which he denied. In a ruling last week, Mr Justice Johnson found that the article from September 2022 was 'defamatory' at common law, but dismissed the claim. He said: 'The publication has not caused, and is not now likely to cause, serious harm to the claimant's reputation. 'In any event, it is substantially true, and it is not materially inaccurate.' The judge also found that, as a witness, Mr Hegab was 'combative and constantly argumentative'. In his written judgment, he said: 'He sought, at every turn, to debate with counsel, responding to questions with rhetorical questions of his own, arguing his case rather than giving straightforward responses, and denigrating the character of the second defendant to whom he bears palpable personal animosity. 'I am satisfied that he lied on significant issues, with the consequence that his evidence, overall, is worthless.' In a YouTube video posted on Wednesday, Mr Hegab said he had 'learned a lot' from the process, adding that he would be appealing against the ruling. He said: 'I didn't expect it to go that way. I was very disappointed, very disheartened with the ruling.' He added: 'I will be appealing this judgment.' In the clip, Mr Hegab also accused the judge of being biased, adding that he had made the mistake of 'putting a bit too much trust in the justice systems in the West'. The defamation trial centred around a video Mr Hegab made amid violence between Muslims and Hindus in Leicester in the summer of 2022, which was sparked after India won a cricket match against Pakistan in August that year. In it, he said: 'If they believe in reincarnation … what a humiliation and pathetic thing for them to be reincarnated into some pathetic, weak, cowardly people like that. 'I'd rather be an animal. I'd rather be reincarnated as a grasshopper…' During the trial in London, Mr Hegab claimed it was clear from the context that he was not talking about Hindus, but Hindutva, an extremist far-right ideology. But Mr Justice Johnson said that Mr Hegab 'knew exactly what he was doing' and 'chose his words deliberately'.
