Keeping you updated with the latest releases, updates, events and opportunities we're working on to improve competitive innovation for our customers.
The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 - 12 November 21. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. A few parties worth mentioning are The Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), the Energy Transition Council and the EV100 who are all working together for our planet.
Ofgem issues its new report into customer perceptions of the UK energy market as at Q3 2020, which is always helpful reading to understand how customers engage in competition and emerging changes such as smart metering.
A collaborative whitepaper involving Nissan, E.ON Drive and Imperial College London explores how the charging capabilities of electric vehicles could contribute to lower emissions and help achieve climate change goals. They have partnered in a commercial V2G projects (e4Future) which aims to demonstrate how electric bans and cars can support the UK grid.
So Energy, a West London based supplier of green energy has bucked the national trend last year and is thriving despite the national lockdown's that plagued the UK throughout 2020. After recently celebrating their fifth birthday they were also ranked the eighth fastest growing private company in the UK according to the Fast Track 100 league table for 2020.
The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will mean the green energy supplier will distribute 3MW of baseload electricity to customers through the national grid for the country's first geothermal power plant. This new venture is allowing Ecotricity to benefit from a "really exciting form of energy that is currently untapped in the UK" said Ecotricity founder, Dale Vince.
The state recently announced as part of its 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap that it will ban the sale of new cars powered by gasoline and other fossil fuels by 2035. It is the first state to follow in the footsteps of California who rolled out a similar pledge following a disastrous season of wildfires. The states plans to be entirely carbon neutral by 2050 with a greater focus on zero-carbon fuels and renewable forms of energy.
A few months ago we announced the news that ESG will be unifying its global operations and brand into a single global entity and we are now pleased and excited to launch and share the look and feel of the new ESG brand. We have been busy creating and implementing the new brand across our global divisions in order to consistently operate under the new branding as of January 2021.
For many years we have donated a vast amount of toys and games to all the children and young people at Derian House. However, due to Covid they are unable to accept physical gifts this year. At Utiligroup we didn't want to cancel our traditional toy donation so instead we have decided to raise funds online for the charity which will then be used to buy vouchers for the children and help put a smile on their faces at this very difficult time!
The very first dedicated car-charging forecourt has opened near Braintree, Essex. This is the first of over a hundred electric forecourts being built by Gridserve over the next five years. Charging at these forecourts will initially pay 24p per kWh of energy, meaning a typical charge from 20% to 80% will cost, on average under £10. Gridserve founder and CEO, Toddington Harper says that "charging has to be simple and free of anxiety, which is why we've designed our electric forecourts entirely around the needs of drivers".
Normal life was majorly disrupted in 2020, however the climate emergency persists and the planet continues to be threatened. DNV.GL have released a new report, the final in their 'Transition Faster Together' 2020 series which summarises industry insights on renewables, power grids and energy efficiency. Their latest report puts forward five calls to ations, which could help us transition faster together a clean energy future.
Understandably the first UK lockdown from 24th March to the start of June caused a considerable drop in daily installations of SMETS2 meters. However, the autumn lockdown saw installations drop by only 2.5% on the previous month of October, which was itself a record month with an average of 17,579 each day. This is a very promising sign and proves that energy companies, DNO's and installation engineers have successfully adapted their working practicing since mid-summer.
In response to the Government recently announcing its 10 point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, our customer Northern Powergrid are at the forefront of delivering a net zero network. Northern Powergrid is the Distibution Network Operator for the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire. Their aim is to create an energy transition that benefits everyone, with the use of innovative technologies to drive down costs. As well as supporting their customers they also want to achieve net zero in their own operations by 2050 at a minimum.
We're proud sponsors of both Solar & Storage and the Future of Utilities Online Summit. Both events bring a wealth of expert speakers, transformative ideas and excellent networking opportunities across the new virtual events industry. Both events are free to attend, so sign up today and drop by our sponsor hub to find out how we're empowering energy leaders globally. You can also find out more about engagement with the future of energy over on our Energy Insights page where Mark Coyle, Utiligroup CMO has recently added a new article 'Building a bridge towards future energy'.
15 energy suppliers have voluntarily signed up to Energy UK's Vulnerability Commitment - pledging to improve the support they provide to vulnerable households. Each company's performance will be independently assessed, with recognition in the Citizens Advice energy supplier rating from December 2020 onwards. The commitments - published recently by Energy UK - include providing a freephone number for customers, training call centre staff to identify and assist vulnerable callers and appointing a Board level 'champion' responsible for improving support to vulnerable households. You can read the full story at Energy UK's website.
The National Infrastructure Strategy builds on the already released Spending Review and the government's 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution, in what the Prime Minister describes as "ambitious commitments on energy, decarbonisation and clean economic growth". Measures outlined in the strategy include the creation of a UK infrastructure bank, a ramping up of EV policy and funding for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
Many thanks for visiting our website. Utiligroup has now unified with ESG. You can find our new site at esgglobal.com - or please click the button below and you will be redirected to our new site.
