New Energy Crisis Commission launches

A high level, expert commission including representatives from Energy UK, CBI, Citizens Advice and National Energy Action is being launched today to review the impacts of the gas crisis on households and businesses.

The Commission will make a series of high-level recommendations focused on ensuring that the country is better equipped to withstand possible future energy crises. It is expected to publish its findings in the autumn. The Commission is launching with a call for evidence and will gather evidence over the summer. [1]

The Commissioners are:

• Louise Hellem, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI);
• Gillian Cooper, Director of Energy at Citizens Advice;
• Dhara Vyas, Deputy Chief Executive of Energy UK;
• Adam Scorer, Chief Executive of National Energy Action (NEA);
• Jim Watson, Professor of Energy Policy, the Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources, UCL.

The Commission will be chaired by the Rt Hon David Laws, who was MP for Yeovill from 2001-2015. David is also the Chairman of Energy UK and several other organisations, as well as a successful author.

Commenting on the launch, David said: “The energy crisis has been hard on households and businesses alike. It’s important that we reflect on what has happened and steps that the country could take to mitigate the impacts of any future crises to ensure we are more resilient.”

Louise Hellem, Commissioner and Chief Economist at the CBI, said: “Energy price volatility over recent years has brought impossible choices for many families and significant cost pressures for businesses in multiple sectors, limiting their ability to invest.

"Assessing how policies can better protect households and businesses alike is important to bolster future energy resilience - an objective that business and government must work together to achieve.

"This should include prioritising catalytic green investment to build long-term energy security, improve home energy efficiency and accelerate the UK's pathway to net zero."

Gillian Cooper, Commissioner and Director of Energy at Citizens Advice, said: “Consumers bore the brunt of the energy crisis and ultimately paid the price for energy supplier failures. The market meltdown tipped millions of people across the country into hardship, with many forced to make impossible choices between heating and eating.

“We will work together to make sure we learn the lessons so that the future of the energy market is resilient, affordable, and low carbon.”

Dhara Vyas, Commissioner and Deputy Chief Executive of Energy UK said: “Despite a recent fall in energy prices, bills remain 15% higher than they were before the crisis. This coupled with other cost-of-living increases means that households, businesses and the wider economy are still grappling with the effects of the crisis. What’s more, energy debt has risen to record levels and will continue to do so without further reform and targeted support for vulnerable customers.”

Matt Copeland, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at NEA, said: “High energy prices have driven millions more into fuel poverty. Bills remain 50% higher than pre-covid levels. We anticipate that's where they'll remain there for the rest of the decade. This is completely unaffordable for millions of fuel poor households.

"Shielding households from future price hikes is crucial, especially as their resilience has been diminished by almost three years of sky-high bills. Many have cut their energy use right back yet they still owe billions of pounds.

"This Commission aims to learn the lessons from the peak of the energy crisis and ensure that low-income and vulnerable households are never exposed to the debt and despair of such high prices again.”

Jim Watson, Commissioner and Professor of Energy Policy at UCL, said: “Whilst energy bills have now started to fall, it is essential that we learn lessons from the global energy price crisis. This is not the first time sharp increases in fossil fuel prices have had such widespread effects on households, businesses and entire economies - and it is unlikely to be the last. The transition away from fossil fuels will not be smooth, and needs to include strategies to respond to the highs and lows of fossil fuel markets.”

The Commission is launching with a call for evidence and will gather evidence over the summer. [1] The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit is providing the secretariat for the Commission.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. To submit evidence to the Commission, please visit: https://energycrisiscommission.... The Call for Evidence will be open until 23:59 30 Aug 2024.

Bios:

The Commission will be chaired by the Rt Hon David Laws, who was MP for Yeovill from 2001-2015. David is also the Chairman of Energy UK and several other organisations. https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/n...

Dhara Vyas is Deputy CEO, Energy UK, where she was previously Director of Advocacy. She joined Energy UK in November 2021 from Citizens Advice, where she was responsible for the consumer watchdog’s work on Net Zero, decarbonisation and the future energy market. https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/n...

Louise Hellem is Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and a member of its Executive Committee. Building on the insights from members, she shapes the CBI’s overall view on economic and fiscal policy and leads the CBI’s discussions with senior politicians and policymakers in these areas. Louise also oversees the CBI’s economic consultancy business CBI Economics. https://www.cbi.org.uk/about-u...

Gillian Cooper is the Director of Energy at Citizens Advice. Since 2018, she has led the organisation's statutory role as an energy advocate, including expanding its role to heat networks. She also directs the organisation's strategy in the energy advice market, ensuring its services are able to meet people's changing needs. Gillian has two decades of experience representing consumers in roles across various organisations.

Adam Scorer is Chief Executive of National Energy Action (NEA), a charity that works to eradicate fuel poverty. Before taking on this role in 2018, Adam worked at numerous policy-focused institutions, such as the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Energy UK, Citizens Advice and Which?. https://www.nea.org.uk/contact...?

Jim Watson is Professor of Energy Policy and Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; the UK Executive Committee member of the European Energy Research Alliance, and steering group chair of the UKRI Greenhouse Gas Removal Demonstrator programme. https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/671...

For more information or for interview requests:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: +44 (0)7894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net