UK media attention on energy

Energy issues are dominant in the UK media three days ahead of the government's announcement on the future of nuclear power.

At a press briefing on 8 January the prime minister's spokesperson said she could not recall any member of Gordon Brown's cabinet standing up to oppose a new generation of nuclear power stations. The cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss UK policy on nuclear energy ahead of an announcement by business and enterprise minister John Hutton on the results of the government's public consultation on the future of nuclear power, expect to be made on 10 January.

The consultation began in May 2007 alongside the publication of an energy white paper. All observers are expecting Hutton to call for private enterprise to replace Britain's aging reactor fleet.

Separately, electricity and gas suppliers have announced significant price increases, blaming the influence the record oil price has had on the gas market. One supplier, NPower, is to raise average electricity and gas prices by 12.7% and 17.2% respectively. Other energy retailers are expected to follow.

In response, chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling, has summoned the chair of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority and the chief executive of gas and electricity regulator Ofgem to an emergency meeting. Concerned about value for consumers, Darling wrote in a letter to the officials that he was interested to hear their views on future price trends.

That national news follows environmentalist anger over recent local approval for the UK's first coal-fired power station for over 30 years. The company building that, EOn, is also a front-runner for new nuclear build. An extended slowdown in power infrastructure investment has meant that all energy sources, even renewables, are now controversial in the UK.

Some reports have speculated on the costs of dismantling any new nuclear power stations at the ends of their lives. It is thought that decommissioning and waste management costs would be funded through a charge on each unit of nuclear-generated power. This could be 50p ($1) per MWh, compared to current day-ahead power prices of GBP63 ($124) per MWh. A report in The Guardian said that if the decommissioning funds fell short, 'taxpayers' would make up the difference in funds not paid for by 'consumers'. It did not elaborate on the difference between the two groups.

Last week, a report from Nuclearconsult criticised the government's consultation process in line with earlier comments from Greenpeace and Friends of The Earth, who withdrew from the process in September 2007. A letter in response, written by a group of academics led by Malcolm Grimston of Chatham House, described Nuclearconsult's work as "unfortunate" in "seeking further delay." The current consultation is the second the government has completed after Greenpeace action forced the first to be abandoned.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has made many public comments giving advanced warning of potentially unpopular policies that are coming up in 2008. He has promised that he "will not shirk from the tough long-term decisions."

On power, Brown said in an interview: "People will expect us to have a strategy not only to have safe energy but to have reasonably priced energy, and to not be wholly dependent on other countries."

Further information

WNA's Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom information paper

WNN: Consultation ruled "seriously flawed"
WNN: "Practical but radical" UK energy policies