The State Is Taking Back Energy
Global Voices
By Nick Butler, Founding Chair, King’s Policy Institute: The recent increase in government intervention in the energy sector is partly a consequence of the huge price spikes resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
State intervention in the energy market is taking many and varied forms. The German government has announced plans for 2% of the country’s land area to be used for the production of wind power, and is devising emergency rationing schemes to manage anticipated winter energy shortages following Russia’s cutoff of gas supplies. All British households initially received a £400 ($450) handout, to help them cope with rising energy bills, partly funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas producers. But that proved insufficient and, upon becoming Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss capped household energy bills for two years and offered short-term support for business users. To increase domestic energy supplies, she granted new North Sea oil and gas licenses and lifted the moratorium on fracking. The United Kingdom’s green agenda nominally remains in place with no new gasoline- or diesel-powered cars to be licensed from 2030, but, for the moment, government intervention is focused on price controls and increased hydrocarbon production.
The State Is Taking Back Energy
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