Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, parent company of British Gas Business, has called for sanity in the increasingly tribal energy debate.
Laidlaw said:
“Political uncertainty is the enemy of investment. As a result, investment in new UK generating capacity has virtually ground to a halt
“No country or company controls global events or markets, and domestic energy policies which do not acknowledge these international realities are fundamentally flawed”
Laidlaw’s outburst was centred on the perceived irrationality of Labour leader Ed Milliband’s much derided ‘energy price freeze’ policy and the expected competition commission enquiry into the energy suppliers, including Laidlaw’s British Gas Business.
Laidlaw opined,
“In the UK, until recently, there was consensus that liberalised markets offered the best solution and we were seen as a safe haven for investors.
But the recent threat of an energy price freeze from the opposition Labour Party, which could win power in next year’s election, has changed all that”
With a fundamental shift in the sources of generation as old nuclear and fossil fuel plants are being phased out and replaced by intermittent and unproven renewable generation the backdrop for such supply side changes make uncomfortable reading for the energy supply giants. No wonder they are worried about the deterioration of their market position from all fronts. We can expect things are going to get a whole lot more tribal from here