Ofgem’s Decarbonization Plan & Greenwashing

Carbon, the atmosphere, and climate change are hot topics in 2020. More and more people are concerned about global warming, and in response the government of the UK’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, otherwise known as Ofgem has released its plan to bring the country’s emissions to net zero. While there are some concerns about the plan itself, it has set the goal to achieve the UK’s target of zero net emissions by 2050 that includes making a regulatory fund and a flexible electricity system. They want to see to it that consumers also benefit.

Ofgem’s Plan

The regulators say that companies must invest in order to anticipate the needs ahead of time. Their plan focuses on working around the potential inconsistent electricity supply from the shift to renewables. Ofgem expects network capacity won’t be needed.

Through recognizing that some investment ahead of time, regulators need to enforce price controls that allow for uncertainty in infrastructure investments and allow energy companies to propose adjustments, which can be made at any time. A network innovation fund as well as other investment mechanisms will be completed.

Green vehicles will need power. The ability to properly store energy also present opportunities for smart charging, supply energy to the grid at peak times, and reduce spikes of demand, Ofgem wants to use data to better track and spare capacity. It is running a competition at £1.9 million to improve the use of data.

Greenwashing

One of the nine points that the plan has is to promise better collaboration in offshore energy transmission according to MoneyPug, an energy comparison site.  The agency encourages new products to allow consumers to choose flexible services. Ofgem will work together with other bodies to remove barriers to collaboration and consider new alternatives that help prop up the efforts. It also plans to make the transition net-zero a consumer-driven program. Ofgem will undertake the work to ensure that consumers are not misled by greenwashing, where consumers are told a tariff is more environmentally friendly than it is. By using behavioral insight and tests, they want to nudge consumers toward more economical tariffs. They intend to use the data to inform its strategy moving forward.

Regulatory Uncertainty

According to the Solar Trade Association (STA), regulatory uncertainty has damaged subsidy-free solar projects. They have issued ten recommendations to the regulator, the STA said it should endeavor to align reform processes. They have also pointed out that this didn’t occur for the Targeting Charging Review (TCR). Furthermore, the Aurora Energy Research found that the TCT could delay the onset of subsidy-free solar in the UK by as much as five years

To accomplish the goals of the plan, some regulatory barriers need to be addressed. Regulatory barriers need to be lifted and focusing on removing greenwashing in the products that are labeled as green or eco-friendly.

It will took a lot of work to accomplish the Ofgem plan, but it can be done. In some ways, it must be done. The nine point plan isn’t perfect, but it is a starting point to decrease the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. More work like this will have to be done in order to lessen the impact on the environment and create not just a decarbonized Britain but a de-carbonized world. It won’t be easy, but it is not impossible. There will need to be a lot done for the UK to be carbon-free by the year 2050, but it is important to get the work started.

Where do we go from here? How can I help? You can do your part by supporting businesses that do not use carbon for their power and others who are working and creating a planet that isn’t poisoned by our energy choices. It is best to decide what the best plan of action is for you personally and work towards working together in a meaningful, productive way. It may sound like a lot, but humans have accomplished more difficult tasks before this. We simply need to be a team in our efforts and acknowledge the problems we have surrounding carbon and our climate.