Latest news with #BritishGas
Express Tribune
13 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
UK gives green light to £38b nuclear plant
The UK government on Tuesday gave new British nuclear power plant Sizewell C the final go-ahead after reaching a deal with investors, aiming to bolster net zero and energy security goals. The government, the largest shareholder in the project, said Sizewell C, in eastern England, will cost around £38 billion ($51 billion) to construct. The project will also be funded by Canadian pension fund La Caisse, British Gas owner Centrica, Amber Infrastructure and French energy giant EDF. "It is time to do big things and build big projects in this country again," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in a statement. "Today we announce an investment that will provide clean, homegrown power to millions of homes for generations to come," he added. The plant, which has been in financial limbo for over a decade, is not expected to start generating electricity until the 2030s. The projected construction cost of £38 billion exceeds previous official estimates of £20 to £30 billion — and campaigners have warned that further cost overruns or delays could impact households.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Why does British Gas keep playing dumb over my faulty smart meter?
I'm one of millions whose smart meters have gone 'dumb' and stopped relaying readings to the supplier. British Gas cancelled the first appointment to fix it and failed to show for the second. They've since fallen silent. It's now been five months and I am concerned that, at some point, I will be getting an estimated bill that I will be unable to challenge. WTW, Sunderland It is thought that 4m smart meters are malfunctioning, although the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis reckons twice as many households are affected and at risk of inaccurate bills. British Gas managed to rustle up an appointment within two weeks of my intervention. To show its contrition, it will not bill you for the six months when the meter was not functioning. Since then the regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, has announced new rules governing the installation and repair of smart meters. Resolutions should be agreed within five working days of a problem being reported and compensation is due if repairs are not completed within 90 days. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Energy boss slams Ed Miliband's ‘abominable' plans to slap tax on gas boilers
ED Miliband's proposal to slap higher taxes on homes with gas boilers was branded an 'abomination' yesterday. The Energy Secretary's plans would hit the poorest hardest, British Gas boss Chris O'Shea warned. 1 It comes as Mr Miliband considers stripping green taxes from electricity bills to encourage more people to fork out for expensive heat pumps. But under the plan, the costs would instead be passed on to gas customers, sending boiler running costs soaring. Mr O'Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, called the proposal 'preposterous' and said it would cause a 'terrible distortion of the market'. Instead he urged the Energy Secretary to focus on protecting households from the crippling costs of Net Zero. He told The Telegraph: 'The idea that you'd put the levies on gas bills will mean better-off people with heat pumps will be subsidised by those who are poorer with gas boilers. 'That's nonsense.' 'I think those of us with the broadest shoulders should help those who have the most need.' 'To put taxes on gas bills would be an abomination. It doesn't make any sense.' Experts have warned that shifting taxes from electricity to gas would drive up average gas bills by £120 a year. Mr O'Shea also blasted Mr Miliband's repeated claim that Net Zero would lower energy bills by £300. He said: 'The energy transition is not cheap and not simple. 'If it were, then we would have done it already.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Britain's gas storage site threatened with closure this winter
Britain's largest gas storage site risks closure by the end of the year unless the Government steps in to provide financial support. Centrica, which owns the Rough storage facility, has warned of the potential shutdown this winter as it battles steep losses at the site. Rough represents half of Britain's gas storage capacity and its closure would be a significant blow to the resilience of the country's energy system. The UK remains reliant on gas to help back up intermittent wind and solar, particularly over winter. Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, warned the storage site was expected to lose £100m this year and said: 'We can't sustain that.' He told The Telegraph. 'I would be willing to close it. My job is clear. It is to grow the company, grow jobs, grow profits, and I take that seriously. 'We've made money over the past couple of years. But we're now pouring £100m into this asset that we could invest in other things.' Centrica aims to redevelop the 40-year-old site to be able to store hydrogen alongside natural gas. However, Mr O'Shea said: 'The market at the moment is not giving the right signals to invest in storage.' The company has asked ministers for a so-called cap-and-floor mechanism to help fund the £2bn project. While Centrica would provide the investment up front, the mechanism would effectively mean guaranteed funding underwritten by a levy on consumer bills. 'I want a mechanism that encourages investment in Rough,' Mr O'Shea said. 'We have seen it in nuclear, but let's extend that to other assets that are needed to bring energy resilience.' Mr O'Shea said he had been encouraged by recent talks with the Government. He praised Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband for highlighting the importance of gas storage as part of the Government's industrial strategy. However, the call for state support comes at a delicate time for Labour. Ms Reeves's Budget has been left in tatters by a series of policy about-turns and poor economic data, forcing her to find billions rather than consider further spending. Meanwhile, Mr Miliband is under pressure to demonstrate progress towards meeting his promise of lowering energy bills by £300 this parliament. It suggests the Energy Secretary may be wary of signing off on a measure that add more levies on to bills. Mr O'Shea warned the issue of support for Rough was urgent and could not be put off. He said: 'I think we've got to see something [from the Government] probably this year. If we get towards the end of the year and we've got a situation whereby we've got no prospect of making a profit, then we're just throwing good money after bad. 'It would be like a charitable donation and that's not our business. If we were to do that, then the shareholders would act quite quickly.' 'No one likes a freeloader' Centrica has already stopped filling the facility off the Yorkshire coast amid concerns about the site's financial viability. Mr O'Shea said Government intervention was key to safeguarding Britain's energy security. He said: 'If Rough closes, then the UK has just six days of gas storage available, compared to 100 in France, Netherlands and Germany. 'If we get into a crisis and the UK hasn't invested in gas storage, then I am not sure it will flow from the Continent. 'Politically, if you're the prime minister of France, Germany, and you look at a country that hasn't invested in gas storage, then I am not sure that will work. There is a need for us to recognise the risk that no one likes a freeloader.' The potential closure of Rough risks reviving concerns over Britain's strained energy supplies, particularly as the country moves to a system more reliant on intermittent renewables. Gas power stations remain crucial for backstopping Britain's energy system when wind and solar generation fall short, something that happens during so-called 'dunkelflaute' periods of low wind and limited light that occur over winter. 'We have had pretty warm winters in the past couple of years, and that has helped us,' said Mr O'Shea. 'If we'd had cold winters, then we would have struggled. Would you feel comfortable driving in the red zone in the revs all the time? I don't feel comfortable with an energy system that has such a small margin for error.' The closure of Rough would lead to the potential loss of hundreds of jobs at the site. A Government spokesman said: 'The future of Rough storage is a commercial decision for Centrica, but we remain open to discussing proposals on all gas storage sites, as long as it provides value for money for taxpayers.' 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.
Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Times
Don't Tell Sid, but India looks a better bet than the UK economy
Based on Rachel Reeves's Mansion House speech last week, the government seems to have finally got the memo that talking down an already depressed economy isn't particularly helpful to its growth agenda. While the adjective 'rousing' is rarely associated with the Mansion House speech, the chancellor did her best to cobble together an investment case for the UK, with a focus on convincing more retail investors to put their savings into UK assets. If this wasn't enough, British retail, or would-be retail, investors can also look forward to a government-backed 'Tell Sid'-style ad campaign to cajole them into buying domestic equities. Reeves faces huge challenges, underlined by the higher-than-expected inflation data the day after her speech. Part of the problem with nudging people into investing more in domestic shares is that investing today is a much more global game than in 1986, when the original British Gas campaign was launched to encourage investment in British Gas. At that time, for example, there were no emerging markets mutual funds available to retail investors, and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) hadn't been invented. The UK is now competing against the rest of the world for its own citizens' money. America has, overall, been the biggest beneficiary of this shift within global capital markets. But, arguably, a far more pertinent example from a UK perspective, given the extreme contrast in recent fortunes and relative merits, isn't the US or even certain European markets, but India. India is already the world's fifth-biggest economy. Data this month showed that it is on track to have its best year for initial public offerings (IPOs), raising roughly $1.5 billion more by this point in the year compared with 2024. It's now the largest IPO market outside the US. In contrast, in the first quarter of this year, just £75 million was raised via listings in the UK. According to Goldman Sachs, there have been $42 billion of inflows into Indian equities from within India itself in the past 12 months. For a market where only a small minority of people have any stock market investments, this is extraordinary. Indians who are in a position to do so are backing their economy in a way that Reeves could only dream of. But when considered in the context of India's broader investment case, it's not hard to understand why. No country, not even America, has enjoyed such an array of structural advantages at this stage of its economic development. Some predictions suggest that India, currently growing by about 6 per cent annually, could become the world's third-largest economy as soon as 2028. Unlike many developed economies, India's population pyramid is not completely inverted, meaning it has a largely healthy, young and increasingly well-educated population to fuel its growth. In contrast to the UK trying to modernise its somewhat 'old world' economy, India is a hive of innovation and entrepreneurship. It already boasts a thriving start-up ecosystem that has created 121 'unicorns' (companies that have achieved valuations of at least $1 billion), the third-highest in the world. The tech leaders of the future are more likely to be born in Bangalore than in the Bay Area. This isn't to suggest that India's investment case is without weakness. The country has long maintained a range of protectionist economic measures, such as high tariffs and strict capital controls, which deter inbound investment and limit outbound investment in non-Indian assets. India's labyrinthine state bureaucracy, red tape, and impenetrable tax system have been significant impediments to growth. Its banking sector suffers from a lack of oversight, hindering domestic businesses from accessing global services and lines of credit. However, from a capital allocator's perspective, part of what makes India attractive is that these weaknesses can, in theory, be addressed with the right reforms and political will. While the economic gains of doing so are difficult to calculate, rough estimates suggest that they could lead to $30 billion–$40 billion of extra India inflows each year, potentially rising to $150 billion–$200 billion over five years. Numbers like this would turbocharge the Indian economic juggernaut. This is why Narendra Modi, the prime minister, has introduced measures to liberalise India's foreign direct investment policies and make the market more accessible to international investors. The 135 per cent rise of India's 'Nifty 50', a key benchmark for its stock market over the past five years, has dwarfed other global indices, including the S&P 500, up 60 per cent, and could be turbocharged by a more aggressive reform agenda and a comprehensive American trade deal, which is being negotiated. This is momentum based on economic fundamentals, which doesn't require an ad campaign, Sid or otherwise. Seema Shah is chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management
