Tony Ward gives his view on what suppliers need to do in order to win trust at Energy Live 2012

Lord Redesdale talks to ELN about the benefit of official qualifications for energy managers.

Is the business energy sector healthy? Why is there a lack of  trust between customers and suppliers? Three energy consultants take ELN on a quick spin through today’s issues and how problems with trust will need to be tackled.

What were the major influences on energy prices this summer? Did the Olympics have an effect on prices? Hear about the latest trends in energy in a special edition from Magali Hodgson, npower’s Optimisation Desk Manager.

London is the least car-dependent city in England according to a new report. The capital topped a ‘Car Dependency Scorecard’ study of 26 cities by the Campaign for Better Transport which examined how many options residents in each city have to get around by public transport, walking or cycling.

Brighton and Hove was ranked second, closely followed by Nottingham. At the other end of the scale, the worst city for car dependency was Wigan, with Peterborough and Colchester close behind.

Each city was graded according to four categories: transport accessibility and planning, quality and uptake of public transport; walking and cycling as alternatives; driving and car use.

London claimed the top spot after being ranked second in the previous such study in 2010, because of its good access to key services by public transport, the most frequent bus services and highest bus usage per person.

Meanwhile, car ownership in the inner boroughs and car usage for commuting or school journeys are both low, according to the report.

In contrast Wigan has the highest car usage, with 60% of commuters driving to work, while public transport access to key services was poor.

The most improved city since 2010 was Southampton, climbing five places overall to fifth which was put down to new partnerships between local councils and public transport operators.

Sian Berry, Sustainable Transport Campaigner for Campaign for Better Transport said: “The cities that have topped our ranking show how good planning and investing in transport infrastructure can provide decent transport alternatives and reduce the number of people having to make every-day journeys by car.”

What was the only commodity which was bearish last week? What happened to power prices? Magali Hodgson, npower’s Optimisation Desk Manager talks us through what happened to power prices and where we can expect them to go.

The Advice

Energy buyers should wait as long as they can before locking away their fixed price contracts or take advantage of daily spot prices, according to a monthly price risk prediction from BuyEnergyOnline, the online energy market for businesses buying electricity and gas.

Globe watch: need-to-know background

Confusion reigned in Europe last week   due to  an unexpected agreement by Eurozone leaders on a plan to centralise funding of the banking debt crisis in return for banking union, while across the Atlantic in the US, the world growth engine struggles with economic growth, confidence, employment growth, retail sales, property prices and debt levels. China growth is also slowing.

Bulls are pinning their hopes on another round of monetary stimulus by central banks. Although the head of US Federal Reserve Bernanke “dashed hopes” last week with his moderate US monetary stimulus, hopes are high for more “aggression” next time round. BuyEnergyOnline noted that in the past monetary stimulus has been a “bullish driver of energy and financial markets”.

In Asia, Japan is firing up two of its nuclear reactors as a first step towards their aim of bringing many more online, while in the Middle East, Saudi increased its oil supplies and stated they want oil prices below $100/barrel to support the weak global economy.

What happened with energy prices?

These global developments and uncertainties resulted in  volatile energy prices during June, said Derek Myers, the head of BuyEnergyOnline: “UK energy prices continued their downward trend during June until Friday’s Eurozone plan resulted in prices bouncing back into positive territory on the last day of the trading month.”

Mr Myers added: “The net result for June was a 0.4% gain for gas prices to 2.10p/kWh and a 1.6% rise in electricity prices to 5.26p/kWh.”

The Prediction

Despite the bounce at the end of June, BuyEnergyOnline  advise that energy prices  are likely to resume their downward trend .

Mr Myers said: “We believe UK energy prices will continue trending lower over the next several months as the Eurozone crisis drags on, global economic growth continues to decelerate and Japan turns their nuclear generators back on. Aggressive monetary policy actions by central banks is the main upside risk driver which may support prices.”

Notes:

Note that these views and recommendations are offered for your consideration, but may be wrong as the market is highly uncertain. The energy markets hold additional risks which are unknown until they arise.

Visit www.buyenergyonline.com to view the full Report or contact Mike Chan on mike.chan@buyenergyonline.com or 07769972189 for any questions?

Despite a need for cheap and affordable energy for developing countries such as India and China, ELN investigates how energy efficiency has a key part to play for these growing economies.

TEAM has launched a comprehensive Measurement and Verification (M&V) Service for energy efficiency and renewable energy schemes. The service is designed in accordance with the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) following the recent certification of TEAM’s Energy Services Director Prof. Tony Day to CMVP (Certified Measurement and Verification Professional).  TEAM is one of only a small number of energy consultancies in the UK who currently hold this certification.

M&V services can verify savings, report against contractual targets or monitor against predicted savings and rates of return. TEAM can also present asset performance and alert engineers when maintenance or replacement of equipment is required. This new service is ideal for ESCos and Energy Performance Contractors (EPCs), Facilities Management providers, system operators and building owners requiring independent verification of system performance.

Find out more.

A new event has been launched for the on-site renewable energy sector addressing the often overlooked but hugely important business and public sector. The Renewables Event is co-located alongside two of the most influential and long-standing shows for the energy and waste sector, RWM (in partnership with CIWM) and The Energy Event. Together, the three shows are expected to attract over 20,000 key decision makers from across Europe.

With DECC’S 2009 Renewable Energy Directive sets a target for the UK to achieve 15% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, The Renewables Event will provide an excellent platform to showcase and discover renewable energy solutions for end users such as major corporations, manufacturers, retailers and the public sector. A strong underlying theme for the event will be exploring the business case for a proactive and strategic approach to renewable energy management.

Running for two days over 11th and 12th September 2012, The Renewables Event will play a major role in attracting more than 20,000 key decision makers from across Europe and will help to create an international village of shared knowledge, sourcing and procurement innovation that provides an ideal stage for best practice to flourish – The Renewables Event will draw environmental and energy managers and sustainability professionals from some of the most influential organisations in the industry.

The Renewables Event was added to the Emap portfolio to satisfy the demand from almost a third (4,500) of visitors to last year’s RWM and The Energy Event.  Alison Jackson, MD, Emap Connect said: ‘Our research among the attendees last year showed that there was great demand for an event that covers on-site renewable energy, so we created one! The Renewables Event covers a wide remit from key legislation and incentives through to case studies of organisations that have developed sustainable facilities. There will also be an opportunity to study a projection of what UK renewables will look like in five years time, as well as presentations on making the business case for renewables in terms of energy costs and making them part of a sustainable carbon reduction strategy. The event complements RWM and The Energy Event perfectly’.

Visitors have free access to all three shows enabling them to get practical and policy advice, ensuring their organisation is aware and up to date. Figures from 2011 show that 98% of attendees were considered instrumental in purchasing decisions for their businesses and 54% have sole or joint decision making powers to invest in new products or services. ‘We have invested heavily in creating a free conference program with over 25 leading industry speakers, chaired by TV presenter and Eco-expert Dick Strawbridge. The event truly is the place to see and be seen’ added Jackson.

The Renewables Event is Emap’s new content-led B2B exhibition which explores renewable energy solutions for commercial, industrial and public sector energy users with a focus on viable technologies for onsite energy generation including: Solar PV, solar thermal, micro CHP, hydro, biomass, biogas and biofuels, heat pumps and wind. The show, which is co-located alongside RWM, in partnership with CIWM and The Energy Event, will take place on 11-12 September 2012 at the NEC Birmingham.