Energy news in general

[Deleted User]

Re Ovo. Am I correct in saying that Ovo never took on any SoLR transfers? If so, was that by choice or refusal to Ofgem? Perhaps this latest development explains why. It would be interesting to know whether the redundancies are company wide, or primarily ex SSE staff. Ovo, of course, purchased the supply/retail arm of SSE in the not too distant past. 

It also occurs to me that the recent embarrassing ‘cuddle your pet to keep warm’ email was perhaps issued by a disaffected employee. 

[Deleted User]

Ovo workers devastated by the closure of 7 out of 10 offices, and the loss of 1700 jobs
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/government-ovo-workers-unite-gary-carter-b976523.html 

BeerSavesMoney

Deleted_User said:

Ovo workers devastated by the closure of 7 out of 10 offices, and the loss of 1700 jobs
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/government-ovo-workers-unite-gary-carter-b976523.html 

They contradict themselves saying they want to get rid of offshore staff but at the same time also firing 1700 UK staff..

Flight3287462

Getting worse out there in the broader world, nuclear power in France struggling EDF need to strengthen its balance sheet.

PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The French government said on Thursday that it had ordered state-owned utility EDF to sell more of its cheap nuclear power to smaller competitors in order to limit the increase of electricity prices in France.

EDF said the measure could cost it up to 8.4 billion euros and dropped its earnings guidance, while the utility also lowered its nuclear production forecast after technical problems forced it to extend the outage of a fifth nuclear reactor.

The energy and environment ministry said in a joint statement EDF will have to increase by 20 terawatt-hour (TWH) to 120 TWH the volumes of nuclear power it sells to its smaller competitors this year in order to keep market prices down.

The price at which EDF will have to sell that electricity will be increased to 46.2 euros per megawatt-hour from the current 42 euros/MWH, but that price is still below EDF's actual production costs and far below current market prices of more than 100 euros per MWH.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/french-power-price-increase-will-remain-capped-4-2022-minister-2022-01-13/

[Deleted User]

This is what happens with multinational companies. When push comes to shove, and they have to pull their horns in, their first priority will always be their domestic customers and shareholders, not their international equivalents.  

Moreover, EDF is patently not independent of the French Government, despite EU guidelines. 

gt94sss2

First Ovo, now Eon

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/17320865/energy-company-eon-sends-socks-furious-customers-bills-rocket/

Flight3287462

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/expect-worst-ukraine-hit-by-cyberattack-russia-moves-more-troops-2022-01-14/

"Ukrainian! All your personal data was uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore it," said a message visible on hacked government websites, written in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish.

"All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future."

QrizB

Ouch, the period 35 (1700-1730, I think) system balancing price is £2950/MWh ...

https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=balancing/systemsellbuyprices

markin

ALL smart meters need replaced... by 2033 for 2g, 3g sunset

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-10405685/ALL-smart-meters-need-replaced.html

[Deleted User]

markin said:

ALL smart meters need replaced... by 2033 for 2g, 3g sunset

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-10405685/ALL-smart-meters-need-replaced.html

Not accurate. Smart meters will not be replaced. The SIM card sits in the communications hub which is a standalone device. Early communications hubs would be due replacement by 2033 anyway. How many people are using a 12 year old mobile phone? The new communications hubs will come with a dual-band Home Area Network which should resolve a number of IHD-related issues.

PS I don’t dispute that we could have it better and at a much cheaper cost, for example, by adopting the French model of a single smart meter with power line data communications.