Category Archives: op-ed

Op-ed “Russian gas will fund Putin’s war on Ukraine no matter what decisions Europeans might take” by CK Kong

Chi Kong Chyong published an article “Russian gas will fund Putin’s war on Ukraine no matter what decisions Europeans might take” in which he discusses the implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was published on 8 March 2022 on University of Cambridge website

You can read the article here

Podcast “The Economics of a Green Recovery” with K. Mohaddes

Kamiar Mohaddes recorded a podcast “The Economics of a Green Recovery” organized by Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge. In the podcast, hosted by Dr Robert Doubleday, Dr Mohaddes together with Dr Nina Seega discussed the macroeconomic effects of  the Covid-19 shock, the long-term costs of climate change and the potential for a… Continue Reading

Article “Ofgem’s customer complaints – Is anyone listening?” by S. Littlechild

Stephen Littlechild published an article “Ofgem’s customer complaints – Is anyone listening?” in Utility Week on 31 July 2020. In this article Stephen Littlechild asks whether it is worthwhile requiring energy retailers to publish quarterly complaints statistics when there are questions over both its consistency and actual value. To read the article on Utilty Week… Continue Reading

Comment “Will COVID-19 and Cheap Oil Green Our Energy Future?” by W. J. Nuttall and A. T. Bakenne

William J. Nuttall, EPRG Associate Researcher, and Adetokunboh T. Bakenne wrote a paper “Will COVID-19 and Cheap Oil Green Our Energy Future?“© “The end of oil was always going to be a story of abundant supply and low prices. Will the shock of COVID-19 and negative prices accelerate the change to a greener future?” The full… Continue Reading

Comment “Capacity Remuneration Mechanisms or Energy-Only Markets? The case of Belgium’s market reform plan” by D. Newbery

David Newbery’s paper “Capacity Remuneration Mechanisms or Energy-Only Markets? The case of Belgium’s market reform plan” written in response to a request by the Belgian regulator CREG to comment on their note on the need for a capacity mechanism. The full text can be found here Continue Reading

Podcast “A ‘tough sell’: why it is so difficult to address climate change on a global scale” by M. Pollitt and D. Reiner

Michael Pollitt and David Reiner recorded a podcast  “A ‘tough sell’: why it is so difficult to address climate change on a global scale” as part of the “Cambridge Judge Business School Debate” series. This podcast focuses on energy policy – the nature of the challenges, the difficulty in addressing climate change, and a few… Continue Reading

S. Littlechild latest submission to CMA

Stephen Littlechild has responded to the CMA’s invitation to comment on its proposed review of the Prepayment Charges Restriction Order 2016. In his response “Providing for a transition back to a competitive retail energy market” he suggests that the CMA phase out the prepayment meter tariff cap by December 2020 rather than leave a “cliff… Continue Reading

Article “Europe should learn from California’s carbon trading” by R. Ritz and A. van Benthem

Robert Ritz, EPRG Assistant Director, University of Cambridge, and Arthur van Benthem, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, published an article “Europe should learn from California’s carbon trading” in The Hill on 5 September 2018.  The full text of the article can be read here    Continue Reading

Op-ed “Don’t backpedal on the CO2 price floor” by A. van Benthem and R. Ritz

Robert Ritz, EPRG Assistant Director, University of Cambridge, and Arthur van Benthem, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, published an article “Don’t backpedal on the CO2 price floor” in the leading Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant on 7 August 2018.  To read the article in Dutch, please click here  Continue Reading

Op-ed “Europe needs a minimum price on carbon emissions” by R. Ritz and A. van Benthem

Robert Ritz, EPRG Assistant Director, University of Cambridge, and Arthur van Benthem, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, published an article “Europe needs a minimum price on carbon emissions” in Handelsblatt Global, on 25 July 2018. The full text of the article can be read here.     Continue Reading

S. Littlechild latest submission to CMA

Stephen Littlechild has made a further submission to the CMA investigation of the SSE-Npower merger, suggesting that divestment to smaller suppliers of some 740,000 long-standing Npower domestic energy customers on Standard Variable Tariffs would address the CMA’s recently identified theory of harm associated with a loss of rivalry in the setting of default tariff prices | PDF… Continue Reading

Comment “Competition, Regulation and Price Controls in the GB Retail Energy Market” by S. Littlechild

Stephen Littlechild’s paper “Competition, Regulation and Price Controls in the GB Retail Energy Market” is a revised and updated version of his July 2017 lead article in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Network, which summarises and appraises the last decade of UK retail energy market regulation. The revised paper has been submitted to Utilities Policy. The full text can be found here The… Continue Reading

S. Littlechild latest submission to CMA

Stephen Littlechild has made a submission to the CMA investigation of the SSE-Npower merger, suggesting that the two companies agree to divest long-standing customers on Standard Variable Tariffs to smaller suppliers in the domestic energy market. He identifies ten respects in which this would increase competition, which is particularly important in present circumstances | PDF… Continue Reading

K. Mohaddes quoted in Albawaba News

Kamiar Mohaddes was quoted in the article “Reneging on the Nuclear Deal Will Isolate America, Empower China, and Distance Europe” by Eleanor Beevor, on Albawaba News, on 28 February 2018. The article also makes a reference of Kamiar’s work “Country-Specific Oil Supply Shocks and the Global Economy: A Counterfactual Analysis” that was written together with… Continue Reading

S. Littlechild latest submission to BEIS

Stephen Littlechild and other former energy regulators of the UK submitted a written evidence to the BEIS Select Committee on pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft domestic gas and electricity (tariff cap) bill  in November 2017. The full text can be found here. On 12 December 2017, S. Littlechild gave evidence in person during the Select Committee meeting. The written… Continue Reading

Comment “Will The Market Delivery Security of Gas Supply? The Case of the UK and Italy” by C.K.Chyong

  A comment by Chi Kong Chyong regarding the recent price hike in the UK and Europe due to gas supply shortages “Having a market-based solution to a security of supply event, such as the recent one, means that the cost of meeting these unexpected events is as low as possible, while the price for… Continue Reading

C.K. Chyong quoted in PenzaNews Agency

Chi Kong Chyong was quoted in the article “US anti-Russia sanctions may have negative impact on European energy security” in PenzaNews Agency on 4 August 2017. “While the exporters of gas – Russia and USA – are looking for more customers in the oversupplied market environment, European energy security is at odds: European gas markets are… Continue Reading

Op-ed “Consequences of Gazprom’s commitments on Central and Eastern European gas markets” by C. K. Chyong

Chi Kong Chyong published an article “Consequences of Gazprom’s commitments on Central and Eastern European gas markets” on Euractiv website on 11 May 2017. ‘Brussels must look deeper into whether its current regulatory system can provide energy security and fair competition across European gas markets, writes Chi-Kong Chyong‘ The full text can be found here Continue Reading

C.K. Chyong submission to DG COMP regarding Gazprom commitments concerning Central and Eastern European gas markets

Dr Chyong submitted his comment to the European Commission, Directorate General for Competition in response to the antitrust case AT.39816 — Upstream gas supplies in central and eastern Europe. The full text can be found here. Further details of the DG COMP’s Antitrust case inquiry can be found here. Continue Reading

M. Pollitt quoted in articles dedicated to BEIS Committee Session on Post-Brexit

Michael Pollitt was quoted in several articles which appeared after BEIS Committee Session on How important is long-term access to the EU’s Internal Energy Market post-Brexit? that took place on 21 March 2017 in the House of Commons.  David Blackman “Battery prices could soar post-Brexit“, Utility Week, 22 March 2017 George Ogleby “Can the UK become a… Continue Reading

Article “What is needed for battery electric vehicles to become socially cost competitive?” by D. Newbery and G. Strbac

The article “What is needed for battery electric vehicles to become socially cost competitive?” by David Newbery and Goran Strbac was published on ScienceDirect website on 6 April 2016. To read the article in PDF, please click here. To access the online version (available till 26 May 2016), please click here  Continue Reading

Comment on Future of Nuclear Industry, House of Commons Select Committee, by S. Taylor

Simon Taylor, Director of the Master of Finance Programme, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and EPRG Associate Researcher, was invited to the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change to give evidence on the future of the Nuclear Power and Hinkley Project industry on 23 March, 2016. To listen to the recording, please… Continue Reading

Article “Hinkley Point is a costly mistake, but only France can pull the plug” by S. Taylor

Simon Taylor, Director of the Master of Finance Programme, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and EPRG Associate Researcher, published an article “Hinkley Point is a costly mistake, but only France can pull the plug” in The Guardian on 14 March 2016. “Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, once boasted that British customers would… Continue Reading

K. Mohaddes quoted in “Pouring Oil on Troubled Stock Markets”, Financial Times, 27 January 2016

Kamiar Mohaddes was quoted in an article “Pouring Oil on Troubled Stock Markets“, published by David Sheppard and Neil Hume in Financial Times on 27 January 2016. “People are seeing the impact of a massive oversupply of oil in the price and perceiving it as coming from the demand side, ” – K. Mohaddes The full… Continue Reading

Comment “Response to CMA on Supplemental Remedies” by S. Littlechild

Stephen Littlechild and the other former energy regulators recently submitted their response to CMA on Supplemental Remedies. In their response they argue that prohibiting Standard Variable Tariffs would overrule customer preferences. It would be better to promote more competition for SVTs. They also propose an alternative way forward, to recognise that the extent of Ofgem’s… Continue Reading

Comment “Snakes and Ladders: price controls and markets. What might the CMA’s provisional findings mean for retail markets in utility services?” by S. Littlechild

Stephen Littlechild, Fellow at Judge Business School and EPRG Associate Researcher, addressed the Indepen Forum on 29 September 2015 which was on the theme”Snakes and Ladders: price controls and markets. What might the CMA’s provisional findings mean for retail markets in utility services?” The full text of his opening remarks can be found here. Continue Reading

Op-ed “Nord Stream: The Sequel” by C.K. Chyong and D. Reiner

Chi Kong Chyong and David Reiner published an article “Nord Stream: The Sequel” on 12 August 2015 in EUobserver, an independent online newspaper covering EU affairs and based in Brussels.  “The proposal to expand Nord Stream comes amid difficult negotiations on Turkish Stream, which, in December, replaced South Stream as the main transit proposal for… Continue Reading

D. Reiner and C. K. Chyong quoted in “Nord Stream 2 Expansion to Face Political Hurdles”, Interfax Energy, 7 August 2015

David Reiner and Chi Kong Chyong were quoted in an article “Nord Stream 2 Expansion to Face Political Hurdles“, published by Annemarie Botzki on Interfax Energy website on 7 August 2015. “Nord Stream 2 would be cheaper because it is closer to the new Russian production base in Yamal, which would lower the cost of shipping gas to… Continue Reading