Demanding Demand Response

So you have decided to enroll your facility in a demand response program.  You understand that your organization will be protecting the electric grid from blackouts and brownouts during times of high demand, and you are aware of the revenue your organization will earn from this program.  The only thing left to do is to work with your demand response provider and develop a successful reduction strategy to implement during an emergency event.  Although each organization is different and will require a tailored plan, there are eight main strategies that prove to be effective for most facilities.

Government Updates

Government 'flip-flops on planning policy' says Ecotricity Renewable energy company Ecotricity has hit out at the Government for its approach to planning, claiming it has introduced conflicting rules for certain projects.

 

Wind farm developers issue 'promise to Welsh communities' Onshore wind farm developers and operators in Wales have signed a declaration committing them to ensure communities hosting arrays receive long-term positive benefits.

 

Osborne confirms DECC and Defra budget cuts in spending review The Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed in today's spending review that the Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) budget will be cut by 8%, while the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has agreed a 10% cut.

 

'Government action' needed to ensure UK meets second and third carbon budget The Government must do more to ensure the UK meets its third and fourth carbon budget, according to the Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) annual progress report.

 

Green Investment Bank invests £635m in first year The Green Investment Bank (GIB) invested £635m in its first year of operation but recorded a net loss of £6.2m, according to the bank's first annual review.

Guidance: Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewables: Updates 1, 2 and 3

By HM Government

Updated: Text updated following the publication of the draft CfD standard terms and conditions.

The Government's Final Investment Decision Enabling programme is designed to enable developers of low carbon electricity projects to take final investment decisions ahead of the Contract for Difference regime being put in place as part of Electricity Market Reform.

DECC launched Final Investment Decision (FID) Enabling for Renewables in March 2013. Applications for participation in FID Enabling for Renewables closed on 1 July 2013. DECC published details of the process, evaluation criteria and indicative timetable for Investment Contract allocation on 27 June 2013.

On 4 December 2013, DECC published a summary of the applications that applied and qualified through Phase 2 of the programme, including details of the FID Enabling for Renewables affordability envelope and an indicative timetable for the contract award process. All applicants that met the Phase 2 minimum threshold evaluation criteria were sent draft investment contracts on 19 December 2013, (based on the draft CfD standard terms and conditions, published in FiT Contract for Difference: Standard Terms and Conditions) and were invited to submit binding applications, confirming that they wish to apply for an investment contract, by March 2014.

Research and analysis: Early Findings: demand side management

By HM Government

Updated: Latest findings documents published.

Further analysis of the data collected through this survey has been undertaken and these reports present some of the research findings.

‘Early Findings: Demand Side Management' includes 24-hour demand profiles for the 250 households, examining peak power and demand shifting, standby power, baseload power, secondary electric heating, and 24/7 appliances.

As a complement to this report we have developed an interactive spreadsheet that allows users to work with the data easily themselves. The spreadsheet allows users to generate daily load profiles for different households selected from the sample of 250 households and you can download it via this Hightail link. **Please note this spreadsheet is .xlsm format and functions with excel 2007 and subsequent versions; select “enable macros”. File size 14MB.

‘Electrical Appliances at Home: Tuning in to Energy Savings' presents an in depth look at the ownership and usage of electrical appliances in homes. This includes an analysis of annual purchase and replacement rates, energy ratings, the associations of use of different appliances, potential savings from small appliances and as assessment of the rebound effect.

‘Consumer Archetypes' aims to perform a comprehensive cluster analysis on the data and group the 250 monitored households into a series of distinct consumer archetypes based on household attitudes to the environment, demographics, building details and electricity usage characteristics.

‘Increasing Insight and UK Applicability' aims to increase the insights that can be extracted from the data and to more accurately scale up the findings to give a national picture. The report utilises a large spatially resolved demographic dataset, Experian's Mosaic UK, to link each household to a specific group and to assess the suitability of this association along with how it can be applied to better understand UK electricity use.

‘The Potential for Smart Meters in a National Household Energy Survey' provides an overview of one approach to maximising the benefits of Smart Meters, by establishing a National Household Energy Survey. This would recruit a representative sample of consumers who agreed to give remote access to their meter data for ongoing, anonymised analysis and reporting of how electricity is being used in homes. The report looks at some of the benefits of this type of survey and provides estimates of potential cost.

The original report for the Household Electricity Survey is also available above.

Energy Storage powering Up

One of the biggest concerns with many forms of renewable energy is their inability to store active energy during times when the sun isn't out, or when the wind isn't blowing.  With these energies gaining popularity and growing at an impressive rate, it seems as though establishing an efficient form of energy storage is a foregone conclusion for the future.

Policy paper: Energy Act policy briefs

By HM Government

Updated: The Energy Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2013. The policy briefs have all been amended to reflect the change to an Act.

Policy briefs covering the main measures included in the Energy Act.

June Update

Scotland fails to meet carbon targets for second year running
Scotland has missed its annual carbon reduction target for the second year in a row, according to figures released today.

Too many EU citizens and businesses unaware of environmental issues
Raising awareness of environmental issues amongst EU citizens and businesses is the first step to achieving behavioural change and reducing the impact created by EU cities, says the European Commission's director-general for Environment.

B&Q 'well on way' to 90% carbon slash by 2023
B&Q has reduced its CO2 emissions by 29% against a 2006/7 baseline, despite a 10% increase in total square footage of its stores, according to the company's annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report released today.

IEA plan could stop emissions growth by 2020 at no net economic cost
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has urged governments to adopt four policies that it claims will stop growth in energy-related emissions by 2020 at no net economic cost.

DHL to 'drive better results' with carbon cutting truck design
Logistics company DHL has unveiled a prototype hybrid electric truck which it claims could reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 25%.

UK law firms cut carbon emissions by almost 2%
Leading UK law firms have reduced carbon emissions by 1.8%, more than 29,000 tonnes of CO2, over the past 12 months, according to a report published today.

BREAKING: Sir Robert Smith appointed temporary chair of energy and climate change committee
Sir Robert Smith will replace Conservative MP Tim Yeo as chairman of the energy and climate change committee, following Yeo's decision to temporarily step down amidst lobbying allegations.

Tim Yeo stands down as committee chairman following lobbying claims
Tim Yeo has agreed to temporarily step aside as chairman of the energy and climate change select committee following allegations that he offered to advise energy companies for cash.

Plans to boost competitiveness of small suppliers revealed

A proposal that aims to improve consumer confidence and choice by increasing competition in the energy market has been opened for consultation by Ofgem.

The regulator's Secure and Promote licence condition aims to assist effective competition and improve liquidity within the electricity market by increasing transparency and assisting small suppliers' negotiations in wholesale markets.

It will force the Big Six suppliers to publish the wholesale prices at which they buy and sell electricity up to two years in advance, and oblige them to trade at these prices. It is hoped this will provide independent suppliers and generators with more opportunities to buy and sell the power they need effectively.

Ipswich: Haven Power welcomes Ofgem plans to increase competition in energy supply market

An independent energy supplier based in Suffolk has welcomed a move by regulator Ofgem to boost competition within the sector. To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in. Britain's big six energy companies are to face fines unless ...

Consultation outcome: Community Energy: call for evidence

By HM Government

Updated: The Community Energy Strategy, which serves as the government response to the call for evidence, has been published today.

This Call for Evidence will run for 8 weeks between 6 June and 1 August 2013.

In this Call for Evidence, we want to hear from community energy groups and community energy intermediaries (such as membership organisations or those offering support and advice to community energy groups), as well as all others with an interest in community energy, including banks, private equity firms, venture capitalists, infrastructure funds, energy companies (supply, networks and generation), developers, builders, planners, local authorities (including parish councils), other local organisations, health professionals and members of the public.

We would also like to hear from community networks and parts of civic society who have an interest in energy, even if it is just a small part of the organisation's remit.

Detail

Community energy - community projects or initiatives focused on reducing, managing, generating or purchasing energy - is on the rise in the UK and we believe that it has the potential to achieve more in the UK, offering solutions where Government action is not enough.

To help us identify how to unlock the potential of community energy, this Call for Evidence seeks evidence, views and ideas to complement our own analysis and research in the following areas:

• Evidence of the potential benefits of community energy


• Understanding the barriers to community energy


• Identifying innovative approaches and new approaches

We encourage responses via our online consultation system, Citizen's Space,

Community Energy Survey

The Community Energy Survey has been published alongside DECC's Call for Evidence, to assist with a systematic assessment of the current scale and profile of the community energy sector. It has been jointly commissioned by DECC and Consumer Futures, and will inform DECC's forthcoming Community Energy Strategy. Databuild would like to hear from community group representatives or individuals involved in supporting communities to do energy projects.

The online survey is designed to gather detailed information about energy projects and activities that community groups across the UK have undertaken in the last five years, those that are in the process of being undertaken and activities that are in the pipeline. Responses are being collected until 9 August.

Supplementary Research

This research report supplements the Call for Evidence and provides a synthesis of published research and evidence around community energy in the UK. It summarises the existing evidence about the role and impact of community energy activity in the UK, highlights gaps in the evidence base, and suggests ways they might be filled in the future. This interim report is the output of the first phase of an on-going research project jointly commissioned by DECC and Consumer Futures and carried out by Databuild Research and Development, supported by the Energy Saving Trust

Detailed guide: Oil and gas: DECC Public Registers of Enforcement Activity

By HM Government

Updated: Oil and gas: 2008/003 Register of Enforcement and Prohibition notice removed

Overview

The Public Registers of Enforcement Activity are a new addition to DECC's Oil and Gas Website and have been introduced to bring this area in line with our policy on publication of data. The registers outline the formal Enforcement Activity undertaken by DECC in respect of offshore oil and gas operations on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, DECC is committed to make available on request information about its actions and decisions, which includes information on formal Enforcement Activity.

The information provided within the registers will be subject to release and publication in accordance with the Freedom of Information (FOI) act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).

DECC Enforcement Activity falls into four main categories; Letters, Enforcement and Prohibition Notices, Permit Revocation, and Prosecution. The DECC Public Register of Enforcement and Prohibition Notices and the DECC Public Register of Convictions are available by clicking on the relevant link(s).

DECC Public Registers of Enforcement Activity and Prohibition Notices

The DECC Offshore Environmental Inspectorate enforces offshore oil and gas environmental regulations and permit conditions. On occasion DECC may require offshore permit holders and/or licensed operators to make improvements by issuing them with a Notice; either an Enforcement Notice which allows time for the recipient to comply with prescribed conditions or a Prohibition Notice which prohibits an activity from occurring until remedial action has been taken.

• An Enforcement Notice may be issued where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that:
  
  • any condition of a permit has been contravened, is being contravened or is likely to be contravened; or
  
  
  • a release or a discharge without a permit has occurred , is occurring or is likely to occur
  
  

Each Enforcement notice will identify the steps to be taken to remedy or prevent the contravention/release or discharge and will specify the period within which those steps must be taken.

• A Prohibition Notice may be issued where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the operation of an offshore installation involves an imminent risk of serious pollution. Each Prohibition Notice will specify the steps to be taken to remove the risk involved in the operation of the offshore installation before operations are allowed to be undertaken again.

The issue of an Enforcement Notice and/or a Prohibition Notice does not prevent other Enforcement Activity, such as Prosecution, being progressed if this is deemed appropriate.

The DECC Public Register of Enforcement and Prohibition Notices includes all notices issued in the last five years. Notices that are older than five years old are available on request. In order to account for the appeals process and quality assurance there is a 5 week period following the date of issue of a notice prior to publication of the notice details on this register. Where DECC are notified of an appeal outside this time period, details of the Notice will be removed from the register. Notices that have been appealed will not appear on the register until after the appeal has been disposed..

Register of Enforcement and Prohibition Notices

Notice Number	Operator	Notice Type	Legislation	Issue Date
001/2008 & 002/2009 (PDF, 83.7KB, 1 page)	Lundin Britain Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	19 December 2008
001/2009 (PDF, 82.8KB, 1 page)	Fairfield Betula Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	23 February 2009
001/2008 & 002/2009 (PDF, 83.7KB, 1 page)	Lundin Britain Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	30 March 2009
003/2009 (PDF, 82.7KB, 1 page)	Talisman Energy (UK) Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	23 October 2009
004/2009 (PDF, 83.2KB, 1 page)	ConocoPhillips Petroleum Company (UK) Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	11 November 2009
001/2010 (PDF, 83KB, 1 page)	Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	22 January 2010
002/2010 (PDF, 83KB, 1 page)	TAQA Bratani Ltd	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	28 September 2010
003/2010 (PDF, 83.5KB, 1 page)	Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	7 October 2010
001/2011 (PDF, 155KB, 1 page)	CNR International (UK) Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	24 March 2011
002/2011 (PDF, 83.2KB, 1 page)	BG International (CNS) Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	23 March 2011
003/2011 (PDF, 82.6KB, 1 page)	Britannia Operator Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 16(A) & 19 of the OCR Regs 2002	22 November 2011
005/2011 (PDF, 82.7KB, 1 page)	Shell UK Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 13(1) & 17 of the OPPC Regs 2005	December 19, 2011
001/2012 (PDF, 82.6KB, 1 page)	TAQA Bratani Ltd	Enforcement	Regulation 4 of the OPPC Regs 2005	April 4, 2012
002/2012 (PDF, 82.7KB, 1 page)	BP Exploration Operating Company Limited	Enforcement	Regulation 4 of the OPPC Regs 2005	June 11, 2012
003/2012 (PDF, 82.8KB, 1 page)	TOTAL E&P UK Limited	Enforcement	Regulations 16A (1) & 16A (1A) of the OCR Regs 2002 as amended	December 18, 2012

DECC Public Register of Convictions

This is a register of prosecution cases resulting in successful conviction which have been brought by DECC against offshore permit holders and/or licensed operators in respect of the relevant environmental legislation administered. In general, Prosecutions are pursued where DECC consider:

1. the gravity of the alleged offence, taken together with the seriousness of any actual or potential pollution justifies this approach; or


2. the general record and approach of the alleged offender warrants it; or


3. there has been a reckless disregard of requirements enforced by the legislation.

The register includes Prosecutions brought by DECC in the last five years. Details of ongoing Prosecution cases and any convictions subject to appeal will not be published. To account for the appeals process there is a delay of 9 weeks following conviction before a case is added to the register. Details of Prosecutions will appear on this register for a period of five years after which they are removed from the register and are available on request.

Register of Convictions

Incident Report No.	Operator	Legislation

Corporate report: DECC press office contact list

By HM Government

Updated: Latest contact list published.

Contact list for DECC's press office and press officers.

Haven Power: People still perceive green energy as expensive

Some businesses in the UK still perceive that buying green energy and implementing energy efficient measures are expensive. That's the view of Ashley Phillips (pictured), Head of I&C Sales at Haven Power, in response to a survey from the Major Energy ...

Consultation outcome: Consultation on the proposal to amend the definition of “debtor” in Section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act (1974) for the purposes of the Green Deal

By HM Government

Updated: Since the Government response was published in August, further stakeholder representations have been received with regards to this amendment. In response to this feedback the approach has been fine-tuned and this addendum sets out how the approach has been adjusted.

The purpose of this consultation is to propose a very specific amendment to the definition of “debtor” in the Consumer Credit Act 1974, to provide confidence to creditors as to the identity of the “debtor” under a regulated Green Deal Plan. This amendment does not change policy or the way in which the Green Deal works.

May Update

House of Lords sounds alarm over EU low carbon investment uncertainty
A clearer EU policy is needed to unlock investment in secure, affordable and low carbon energy, according to a report released today by the House of Lords.

MOD to save £3m by battling energy consumption
Engineers have established a specialist control room that allows them to remotely manage energy use at 35 of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) highest energy consuming sites.

DECC in 'crisis' as resignations build up
Ravi Gurumurthy has stepped down from his role as head of strategy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), according to an unconfirmed report, after what has been described as a "crisis" for the government department.

EU Parliament approves 2020 CO2 emissions limit on vans
The European Parliament's Environment Committee has voted to introduce stricter new targets for van fuel economy and CO2 emissions in 2025.

EU Parliament reaffirms international shipping target to cut CO2
The European Parliament reaffirmed its goal towards safer and more environmentally friendly shipping today as it continues discussions on reducing CO2 emissions throughout the region.

Statistics: Quarterly UK greenhouse gas emissions

By HM Government

Updated: Updated UK greenhouse gas emissions data to the 3rd quarter 2013.

This publication provides provisional estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions on a quarterly basis. This release covers emissions up to and including the 3rd quarter of 2013.

Quarterly emissions estimates have a 3 month time lag, and are based on provisional inland energy consumption statistics, which are published in DECC's quarterly Energy Trends publication.

These estimates have been labelled as “Experimental Official Statistics” and will retain this label until further notice. We would welcome any comments from users on both the estimates and the methodology; please email the Climate Change Statistics inbox for any questions and/or comments.

You can access past editions of the statistics via The National Archives.

CRC must be retained, say Energy Managers Association

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme and its fiscal contribution to the Treasury needs to be retained despite flaws in the scheme's design, the Energy Managers Association (EMA) has said.
The EMA, which represents energy management professionals from companies with a collective energy spend of around £3bn, issued a report on Monday 15 April that examined attitudes within the field of energy and carbon management to the CRC and carbon reporting.
The Mandatory Green House Gas Reporting and CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme report claimed the CRC has successfully motivated organisations on the need to reduce carbon emissions, which would not have occurred without the scheme. But the organisation said the government must ensure there is a clear separation between carbon taxes and carbon reporting to simplify the landscape and provide consistency to businesses.

Ofgem catches up with SSE

Ofgem imposes 'largest ever fine' on SSE for misselling
Ofgem has today said it will fine SSE £10.5m, the largest ever imposed on an energy supplier, for numerous breaches of its obligations relating to telephone, instore and doorstep sales activities.

Energy policies push up business bills

The UK's energy and climate change policies will help cushion domestic consumers from price rises. But they will lead to an increase in average bills for businesses, a new government report has concluded.
According to the report, published on 27 March, medium-sized energy users currently face bills that are already 21% higher, than would otherwise be the case, as a result of government policies. This is expected to increase in future years.
Energy-intensive users' energy costs were said to be up to 14% higher than otherwise would be as a result of policies, and this could increase to 36% by the end of the decade - largely because of the impact of the UK carbon floor price, which came into force on 1 April this year, and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

April Update

Industrial sectors sign up to 2020 energy efficiency targets
The UK's energy intensive industries have agreed to commit to extending energy efficiency improvement targets to 2020 as part of the voluntary Climate Change Agreements (CCA) scheme.

EU greenhouse gas emissions down 1.4% on 2011
The European Union's 27-Member State and Norway emitted around 1,876 million tonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gases in 2012, a decrease of 1.4% on 2011.

Virgin Atlantic soars to sustainable in-flight catering
Virgin Atlantic's global catering operations are to be evaluated and rated for their sustainability credentials by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA).

Bluewater will be case study for future energy management projects
Bluewater's strategy for cutting its annual energy bill by 50%, with the aim to become Europe's most energy-efficient retail complex, will be a benchmark for future energy management projects, says Lend Lease's Pascal Mittermaier.