Jul
2011
EMR and the Challenges Ahead
It has been an age since my last blog and on the energy front things have been busy. The Statoil campaign in the UK has kicked into gear, we’ve had the Electricity Market Reform, release of strategic oil reserves (good blog from Platts yesterday), increased retail energy prices in the UK and continued debate about the future of nuclear in different parts of the world.
In the world of media too things have changed. Of course we no longer have the News of the World on our newsstands, but we have a new social network to play with in Google+ and apparently there are already 10 million users (for those interested I’m at http://gplus.to/chrispratt). We also had the launch of the Huffington Post in the UK, and the subsequent debate in the journalist twittersphere about unpaid content and commentary.
Personally speaking the pace of things at work and at home (moving into new house) has precluded much else, but the train journey has allowed me to make a start on the new book by Tom Bergin , Spills and Spin, about BP’s Macondo spill and the changes at BP under Lord Browne and Tony Hayward, which according to Bergin had created an environment more comfortable with risk than perhaps an oil company should be. It’s an interesting perspective and I look forward to the week off next week that will allow me some time to finish the book.
I’m also looking forward to reading more about the fallout from the EMR. One thing is clear about the reforms and that is that energy prices will increase to foot the bill for the investment in our national infrastructure. What the bill will be and how much the average energy consumer will have to pay, nevermind the extent to which heavy industry can afford to stay in the UK, will be the subject of much debate as the Government starts to provide the clarity required to make the calculations. From a communications perspective therefore much remains to be done as consumer groups, businesses, energy companies and Government line up for what will be a time of challenging messages. Something to think about on the beach? Probably not, but maybe when I get back.
