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  • New Thinking: Capacity market and DSR – the thin purple line

    October 9, 2014

    New Thinking: Capacity market and DSR – the thin purple line

    Capacity market and DSR – the thin purple line Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 9 October 2014 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics Back in August, my colleague Catherine Mitchell wrote about Britain’s new Capacity Market being introduced as part of the Electricity Market Reform package. National Grid has now released figures on what capacity has pre-qualified for the CM: Apart from the point made by Greenpeace and Sandbag that the CM looks likely to prop up our old coal-fired capacity, what is particularly disappointing but not surprising is the picture on demand-side response. In total, just over 1

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  • New Thinking: Is the centralised utility model past its sell-by date?

    October 6, 2014

    New Thinking: Is the centralised utility model past its sell-by date?

    Is the avalanche of financial reports right? Is the centralised utility model past its sell-by date? Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 6th October, 2014 About Catherine: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Catherine_Mitchell Citi (1) is the latest financial institution to publish a short report on the future of the centralised utility model, but with a specific focus on GB. They argue that due to increasing competition the market share of the Big 6 will decline from 98% in 2013 to below 70% by 2020; and that the total profit pool available to them will decline by 40% by 2020. Ultimately, they say,

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  • Paper: Governance and disruptive energy system change

    September 30, 2014

    Paper: Governance and disruptive energy system change

    Governance and disruptive energy system change By: Catherine Mitchell, Antony Froggatt and Richard Hoggett Abstract:  This paper explores the biases towards the conventional energy system currently in place in GB; it looks at potentially destabilising factors at work in the GB energy system; it looks at disruptive influences at work in the wider energy system; and it asks whether those wider factors are sufficient to force change in the GB energy system. Type: Draft Conference paper, delivered to  International Workshop on Incumbent – Challenger Interactions in Energy Transitions, September 22-23, University of Stuttgart, Germany Download Paper: Stuttgart conf paper &#

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  • Presentation: Governance and disruptive energy systems

    September 30, 2014

    Presentation: Governance and disruptive energy systems

    Governance and disruptive energy systems From: Catherine Mitchell To: International Workshop on Incumbent-Challenger Interactions, Stuttgart, 22 September 2014 Outline – Brief discussion of ‘conventional energy system’ and practice change – The current situation in GB electricity – New factors affecting the GB electricity system – Wider potentially disruptive influences elsewhere in world – Considers whether these influences / factors are strong enough to disrupt GB – Discussion on definitions   Download presentation:  Mitchell Stuttgart Final 2014   Download full conference paper: Stuttgart conf paper – Draft

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  • New Thinking Blog: The times, they are a’changing

    September 12, 2014

    New Thinking Blog: The times, they are a’changing

    The times, they are a’changing Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 12 September 2014 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics As John Harris argues in today’s Guardian, there are deep shifts going on in the nature of democracy across the UK (and actually the rest of Europe too). The predominant mood is one of rejection of political elites and conventional party politics by an electorate who have experienced a decade of declining living standards and increased economic uncertainty. Much of the rise of the ‘Yes’ vote for Scottish independence reflects this mood, but so does the emergence of UKIP in

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  • Blog from Berlin – Part Zwei: Why Culture and Institutions Matter in Low Carbon Transformations

    September 11, 2014

    Blog from Berlin – Part Zwei: Why Culture and Institutions Matter in Low Carbon Transformations

    Blog from Berlin – Part Zwei: Why Culture and Institutions Matter in Low Carbon Transformations Caroline Kuzemko, IGov Team, 11th September, 2014 About Caroline: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Caroline_Kuzemko Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolineKuzemko Here at IGov we are starting to conduct some comparative analyses between UK governance for sustainable energy innovations and governance in Germany, Denmark, California and Texas.  We are doing this partly in order to understand more about governing for transformation, but also to try and draw some lessons for the UK.  We do, however, seek to draw lessons in a manner that is sensitive to the notion that energy and climate governance

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  • Paper: Environmental politics in a cold climate

    August 18, 2014

    Paper: Environmental politics in a cold climate

    Environmental politics in a cold climate By: Matthew Lockwood Published in: Juncture 21.1 (89-96): Summer 2014 Introduction Ten years ago, in early 2004, the chief scientist David King went on the record as saying that climate change was a far greater threat than international terrorism. That spring Tony Blair said that ‘there is no bigger long-term question facing the global community’, and pledged to make tackling climate change a priority for the 2005 G8 meeting, which the UK was hosting. Over the next five years, environmental issues (most obviously climate change) climbed the political agenda, with a surge in media coverage

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  • Submission to CMA energy market investigation

    August 18, 2014

    Submission to CMA energy market investigation

    University of Exeter Energy Policy Group response to the CMA Energy Market Investigation Statement of Issues 1. Introduction  The EPG welcomes this CMA investigation. The Statement of Issues (henceforth the Statement) states that the investigation (para 2) ‘is required to determine whether any feature or combination of features of each relevant market prevents, restricts or distorts competition in connection with the supply or acquisition of any goods or services in the UK or part of the UK’. The Statement sets out its initial theories of what might be adversely affecting competition and what those adverse

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  • New Thinking: The odd couple – will a new Strategy and Policy Statement help sort out the relationship between government and Ofgem?

    August 18, 2014

    New Thinking: The odd couple – will a new Strategy and Policy Statement help sort out the relationship between government and Ofgem?

    The odd couple: Will a new Strategy and Policy Statement help sort out the relationship between government and Ofgem? Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 18 August 2014 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics Back in 2011, shortly after coming into power, the Government did a review of Ofgem – some may remember that the Conservatives were unhappy with the regulator, and their 2010 manifesto promised reforms to make it focus more on government policy. That review basically said that the guidance given by the previous government to Ofgem over the 2000s had not been effective, and a clearer statement

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  • Opinion Piece: Climate change – it’s not too late to change gloomy prognosis

    August 11, 2014

    Opinion Piece: Climate change – it’s not too late to change gloomy prognosis

    Wind and solar energy are essential ingredients in our move to a sustainable economy here in the Westcountry, argues Professor Catherine Mitchell. Much has been written in these pages about the impact of wind and solar farms on our landscape in the Westcountry. Everyone has their own views about energy. I am someone who loves wind turbines, solar panels and renewable electricity in general. I look at wind turbines and think: this is positive; this is making the world a better place; this is a clean energy future for our children. I have solar water

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