It's encouraging that the energy regulator is prepared to explain the reality of what's needed in the energy sector. The energy industry needs to invest up to £200bn over the next decade to make sure the lights are kept on and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. All this will come at a cost and we can't be certain exactly how much that will be, but making these investments now, will keep energy affordable over the longer term.
These are real challenges - to put it into perspective, RWE npower and RWE npower renewables are looking at investments of around £1bn per year for the next 10 years, mostly in lower carbon power generation - but also new customer service systems. Your average power station will typically cost around £1bn to build and a new customer service system, around £200m.
View the Ofgem press release.
