Energy is big news!

If there remains anyone who is unaware that the energy world as we know it is in the middle of a revolution, they must be living on Mars or spending too much time playing COD!      

Whilst many of us are tuning into the news to find out which tier we have, or more likely, haven’t been moved to, just as many are avoiding it due to pandemic information overload. Either way recent announcements about the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution, the report from The Committee on Climate Change about the Sixth Carbon Budget and the BEIS Energy White Paper issued this week, have made their way onto all media outlets from BBC TV news to Logan Paul’s daily outpouring – OK maybe not the latter! The point is, this is a mainstream issue which all sectors of society and the economy are aware of and need to drive forward.

It wasn’t so long ago that the only energy issue that wider society was interested in was a nuclear reactor failure. Here are a few examples of announcements we would never have imagined just a short time ago:-

• government consulting on whether to stop new homes being provided with a gas connection;
• plans for a gigafactory producing batteries in south Wales with huge investment and job opportunities;
• Ovo Energy paying some of their customers at the height of renewable energy generation and;
• a Decarbonisation Fund for heating public sector buildings and associated investment alongside a Low Skills Fund to pay the consultants to support bid making.

For those in local government, the latter may well be the most is surprising. A recognition that many councils do not have the skills necessary to make the most of their assets in terms of energy and tackling climate change is welcome as well as startling. It is a point APSE Energy has been making for a long time now. It appears that the funds will be oversubscribed and hopefully further rounds will be as attractive and taken up as quickly.

There is a need for specialist support for local authorities and we know as we help many with it. But there is a difference between building out a solar farm which the council may do once or twice and generic energy efficiency work which should be built into regular asset management plans within every local authority. Identifying what councils should spend their money on has always been a tough job and never tougher than now – but the topic of energy is rising up the agenda and needs to be addressed. Brexit may be this month’s news and the pandemic this and next year’s, but energy and carbon will be making headlines for a long time to come.