- Conference
- 2022 Energy Service Group Conference
- Date
- 22 February 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Since de-regulation we have seen many suppliers come and go within the energy industry and while this was seen as a good thing competitively, there was little thought about the impacts on the energy workforce which has seen thousands of good jobs lost from the suppliers with strong union agreements in place.
While inadequate regulations and licencing set by Ofgem allowed new suppliers to enter the market with the sole purpose of gaining market share as quickly as possible, the focus on whether these companies were financially secure was lacking. As with the financial crash of 2008, this was the perfect storm waiting to happen.
Since the beginning of 2021, we have seen 31 companies exit the market. Leaving the remaining suppliers and more importantly the customer to pick up the pieces. These failures are blamed on rising wholesale prices, particularly for natural gas, which has risen in price by over 300% since the beginning of last year. The recent announcement In February by Ofgem will see the price cap increase by 54%, adding on average between £693 – £708 to household bills depending on payment method.
Compare this to the cap of 4% imposed by the French Government on EDF, while seen as a private company, EDF shares are majority owned by the French Government (over 80%). The impact of losses, between 7 – 8 billion Euros, will not be borne solely by the company itself and the French Govt are stepping up its direct support of the company securing the employment of energy workers.
The impact of lax regulation has massively impacted our members in the industry as we have seen an increase in restructures and work being offshored as companies try to recoup losses. It is getting harder to negotiate decent pay rises for our members and companies are continually looking to weaken terms and conditions. As we move to a greener future and the industry moves away from fossil fuel production, the opportunities for our members to move to green jobs is difficult as those jobs need to be created and run alongside existing roles which still need to be fulfilled.
Yet there is another way as we have partially seen in France, it is taking into public ownership the retail energy supply industry. A single public retailer would be able to negotiate wholesale prices, impacting and protecting consumers from shocking price increases and supply issues. It would be able to look at the long-term future of the industry, implementing and overseeing projects that help the UK reach its climate change goals including clean energy production and improved storage capacity, as well as securing jobs for our members.
Therefore, conference calls upon the Energy Service Group Executive to:
1. Work with Labour Link to continue lobbying government for the re-nationalisation of the energy retail market.
2. Work with the NEC to create a national campaign on re-nationalisation of the energy market, with a key mission to provide stable good quality employment for energy workers while linking this in with the cost-of-living crisis.
3. Publicise the call for re-nationalisation of energy retail supply to UNISON Energy members.
4. Call on Labour Link to continue to take the Service Group’s policy around energy retail market re-nationalisation into the work of developing the next Labour Party’s election manifesto.