The weakness of price caps is clear. Energy markets need bolder action

collected by :Victor Alphen

referring to Many of the 5 million vulnerable households who already have their energy bills capped will be hit by an average price hike of £57 a year from Sunday. Some might call it cynical to price so close to a cap intended to protect society's poorest. Lewis notes that three of the big six energy companies are less than £15 cheaper than they were before the cap started. E.ON has broken ranks, with a stealth energy bill increase this month of up to £50 for some customers. That would also help address the energy security fears raised by recent cold snaps, energy researchers concluded last week.

Energy markets have gotten more volatile and harder to predict

Oil, gas and electricity markets in the U.S. showed more yearly volatility and proved tougher for Energy Department analysts to predict from 2005 to 2014 compared to preceding decades, new research published in the journal Nature Energy shows. What they did: The paper explores decades of U.S. data on prices, production and use of oil, gas and coal; electricity prices and demand; transportation fuels and more, totaling 17 separate categories. What they found: "Both volatility and unpredictability have increased in the past decade, compared to the three and two decades before it." It has, for instance, led to much more production than forecast as well as much lower natural gas prices. "[H]igh concentrations of extreme errors begin before both the massive expansion of hydraulic fracturing and the great recession," the authors write.

Energy markets are not changing fast enough to avert climate change

As it stated in Energy intensity—a measure of the energy efficiency of a country's economy—has improved and driven progress in environmental sustainability. Energy access for allSecurity and access remains the area with the widest disparity between highest and lowest performing countries. China's transition readiness indicates that it has made large efforts to prepare itself for the energy transition, despite its relatively unfavourable energy system structure. IndiaIndia has also improved its performance by making strides in energy access and reducing fossil fuel subsidies. Between 2013 and 2018, India improved its performance score by 5.6 percentage points, mainly with improved energy access, reduced subsidies and reduced import costs.