UK Electricity Market Reform and the EU

The government’s Electricity Market Reform proposals, currently going through the House of Commons, are aimed at reforming the UK electricity market in order to meet UK carbon targets.  But of course we are now operating in a wider European context where, with UK backing, the Commission has been promoting a single European electricity market.  Is it possible to introduce fundamental reforms within only one part of this wider market?  This Comment, by Malcolm Keay, explores some of the issues and tensions which the reforms may raise at a European level.  Such issues may not be confined to the UK proposals, which may simply be revealing a more fundamental clash between liberalisation and decarbonisation agendas across the EU.  As decarbonisation targets get tougher and more expensive, and momentum towards a single European market gets stronger, the strains are only likely to increase.

By: Malcolm Keay