British Gas boss warns of blackout risk from Ofgem investigation

More sabre rattling from Sam Laidlaw who is doing a good job as boss of Centrica of scaring the horses.  Basically he is saying,  ‘look,  do anything which upsets our cosy oligopoly and you’ll be shivering in the darkness in no time at all’.

He’s talking from a strong position of course;  the UK needs firms like Centrica to reinvest profits in new generation capacity to replace the coal fired stations which are being decommissioned.  

We reckon he’s doing our business a great service.  Companies who need and depend on regular electricity supplies will see his comments as a threat to their business.  Some of them will decide that investing in their own PV generation capacity is a good strategic move.  

Reliance on six main players in any market is asking for trouble.  Add increasing dependence on imported raw materials to produce that energy and the geo-political risks facing the places those raw materials come from and you start to get a real sense of just how vulnerable our energy supply is.

Laidlaw is probably laying it on a bit thick but he does make a fair point.  If the government wants companies to invest in new energy generation capacity,  and it most certainly does,  and soon,  talk of government imposed price freezes and competition inquiries is hardly encouraging.

What a pickle.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/utilities/article4046394.ece