Keeping the Lights On

Ian Marchant.

In his former role as CEO of SSE, Ian Marchant was outspoken about the risk of the UK’s  “lights going out” unless further action was taken over the generation and supply of power.  In March 2013 he  warned that the government was seriously underestimating the “capacity crunch” currently facing the country.  “The government is significantly underestimating the scale of the capacity crunch facing the UK in the next three years and there is a very real risk of the lights going out as a result.” He added the government could reduce this risk significantly by taking further action to provide a greater clarity on its various electricity market reforms and also by bringing forward capacity payments for existing plants from 2018 to 2014. In this presentation Ian discussed  how the UK can keep the lights on and on issues and challenges facing the energy sector.

“Our modern way of life is almost completely dependent on the provision of reliable and affordable energy and as a result rarely a day goes past without the energy industry making headlines. I am pleased to have this opportunity to take a step back and look at some of these issues and hopefully make a constructive contribution to the energy debate.”