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Take Centrica’s gas storage warning seriously – Britain still needs secure supplies | Nils Pratley

23 July 2026 at 18:44

One task awaiting new energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is devising a plan to avoid a crisis by the end of the decade

Welcome to the energy secretary job, Miatta Fahnbulleh. You have a politically tricky decision to make on whether to approve production at the Jackdaw gasfield and the Rosebank oilfield. But here’s another one that can’t wait much longer: what is the broader plan to ensure Britain avoids a gas supply crisis in 2030?

By way of reminder, one of the more alarming reports published by the energy department under Ed Miliband was the one that warned of “an emerging risk” to gas supplies at the turn of the decade if an important piece of kit – an import terminal, say, or the critical 725-mile Langeled pipeline from Norway – were to be out of the action during a severe cold snap.

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© Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

© Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

© Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

Customers prefer AI chatbots, says British Gas owner as 1,300 call centre and back office jobs axed

CEO Chris O’Shea defends Centrica’s plans as it reports rise in retail profits following focus on bigger margins

The owner of British Gas has claimed that most households would rather speak with an AI chatbot than deal with the company’s staff as it prepares to cut 1,300 jobs from its call centres and back office.

Centrica, the supplier’s FTSE 100 owner, plans to cut 800 jobs as the company carries out a “targeted deployment of AI tools”, on top of the 500 cuts it confirmed last month.

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© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

ScottishPower owes me £1,000 in solar panel payments

1 July 2026 at 07:00

For months I’ve been trying to receive my FIT payment, which should be more than £1,000

I moved into my new house 14 months ago, and soon afterwards applied to ScottishPower, with whom the solar panels are registered for a feed-in tariff (Fit), for transfer of ownership of the panels and the tariff.

After many emails back and forth, I got a response saying they had all the information required.

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© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

ELM MicroGrid installs battery storage in its hometown [video]

4 June 2026 at 01:42

Battery energy storage specialist ELM MicroGrid has spent more than two decades building a nationwide energy storage and utility infrastructure businesses. Now, the company is bringing that expertise home with the installation of a new battery energy storage system at a solar microgrid project in Peoria, IL.

Power to the people: how ‘balcony solar’ could help fight rising US utility costs

More Americans are using small solar panels in their back yards or balconies as a clean way to cut their electric bills

If you feel like your electricity bill just keeps climbing, you aren’t imagining it. Since 2020, US residential energy prices have surged by about 30%, making power the largest household energy expense behind gasoline, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

But for residents like Alex Curtis, the days of feeling powerless against rising costs are coming to an end. Curtis is waging a war on his electric bill, and his new weapon of choice is a lightweight, thin-film solar panel.

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© Photograph: Climate Central

© Photograph: Climate Central

© Photograph: Climate Central

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