Premium paid over French counterparts has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour, analysis by lobby group finds

British steelmakers have been pushed further behind European rivals on electricity costs after the US-Israeli war on Iran caused a surge in global gas prices.

The premium paid by the British industry over its French counterpart has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour (MWh), its highest level in three years, according to analysis by the lobby group UK Steel.

Development by UK firm Nscale heralded by ministers as largest of its kind in country loses anchor tenant

The development of a huge AI datacentre hailed by the UK government has received a fresh setback after Microsoft pulled out of the project over concerns about power supplies.

The development by the British company Nscale, heralded by ministers as the country’s largest AI datacentre when it was announced in 2025, was planned to open at Loughton in Essex next year.

Regulator for Great Britain weighs up reintroducing market stabilisation charge to prevent firms going bust

Energy suppliers could be forced to pay a charge to rivals if they lure customers with cheaper deals, as the industry regulator for Great Britain attempts to prevent suppliers going bust this winter.

Ofgem has published a consultation on a proposal to reintroduce the market stabilisation charge (MSC), which aims to prevent suppliers failing if there is customer exodus, as it frets over the impact of sharp swings in energy prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

Grid operator paying large sums to switch off windfarms in areas of excess electricity generation while turning on gas plants elsewhere

The cost of balancing Great Britain’s power grid has soared to near-record highs of almost £50m a day after windfarms were turned off because of bottlenecks in transmitting power around the country.

The grid operator paid £47.9m on Wednesday to turn windfarms off in areas with an oversupply of electricity and turn gas plants on in areas where supplies were tight.

There are many reasons to reject this affordability ‘solution’, not least it being complex and fiddly. Just keep things simple

‘My mark of failure or success is whether I can get bills down or not. That’s the only thing I’m in this job to do.” So said Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, recently, bracing for the hike in energy bills that looks inevitable in January. Industry projections suggest £400-ish on an annual basis is on the way, with “stubbornly high” levels for the rest of decade even if wholesale gas prices cool down.

So, yes, one can understand why “affordability” is Fahnbulleh’s “top priority”. And, as this newspaper reported last week, there is likely to be an intervention in that direction in chancellor John Healey’s budget this month: £1bn of extra support for poorer households this winter.

Firms turning crude oil into the ‘workhorse’ fuel stand to gain most despite economic fallout from record prices

• Business live – latest updates

Days after Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US in an effort to lower soaring pump prices, the world’s energy watchdog has warned that the global fuel shortage will drag into 2027.

Trump’s temporary sanctions reprieve was criticised for offering “too little, too late” to temper the sky high pump prices triggered by the shutdown of war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia – once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter behind the US.

From finding draughts to buying a thermal leak detector – there are simple, cost-effective ways to start sorting heat loss

• How to storm-proof your home, from roof tiles to garden fences

Pick a day when there is a good breeze, and heat the house to its usual temperature. Then wander around with a candle or smoke pen (about £20). Alternatively, buy a thermal leak detector. This flashes blue for cold, green for normal and red for warm.

Complaints risks putting defence ministry on collision course with Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Ministry of Defence has objected to at least four planned windfarms in the past year over fears the spinning blades could cause “unacceptable interference” with radars used to detect military aircraft.

MoD officials raised concerns in late June over plans for an onshore windfarm in County Durham that could result in aircraft “not being detected” within an RAF Low Flying Area, according to a letter to Britain’s planning authority.

Competition watchdog clears takeover despite concerns that suppliers will have less incentive to lower bills

Almost three-quarters of households in Great Britain are now served by just three energy suppliers, after E.ON Next completed a deal to buy Ovo Energy despite fresh concerns about competition in the energy market.

The takeover concluded on Thursday after Britain’s competition watchdog cleared it, despite concerns that the shrinking number of household energy suppliers could mean bill payers will have less choice and suppliers will have less incentive to lower bills.

Record prices caused by global shortages amid shutdown of war-damaged refineries in Middle East and Russia

Shell’s refineries are expected to make record profits on each barrel of fuel produced after shortages in the global market caused pump prices around the world to climb to all-time highs.

In a trading update on Wednesday, the energy supermajor forecast profit margins of $42 a barrel in the July to September period, far above the margins of $24 a barrel in the second quarter.

In the second article in a series on the Polish economy, we look at how the country is forging closer ties with its neighbours

Two miles off the coast of Gdańsk, the white steel piles of Poland’s first offshore gas terminal rise from the slate-grey Baltic. Installed at a height eight metres above the waves, the floating cranes and construction vessels here are on the frontline of Europe’s push for energy security.

Since the taps were turned off on Russian gas after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago, Poland has turned to the global energy market for supplies. But while conditions are far from ideal as the Middle East war drives oil and gas prices to stratospheric levels, strengthening the diversity of the country’s energy mix remains a top priority for Poland, its Baltic neighbours, and the EU at large.

Exclusive: Officials working on further radical changes that would change how much energy companies could charge customers

John Healey is planning a major intervention to cut energy bills for poorer households in this month’s budget, after ministers became alarmed at forecasts that show bills rising by hundreds of pounds in January.

The chancellor is working on plans to spend more than £1bn to help energy consumers, the bulk of which is likely to go towards increasing the discount given to households on certain benefits.

Exclusive: Campaign group’s analysis of North Yorkshire plans finds datacentre would have to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood a year

Drax’s planned datacentre could produce nearly double the emissions of all flights out of Gatwick airport each year by burning 4.9m tonnes of wood annually, an analysis has shown.

Campaigners say this would make it “one of the dirtiest datacentres out there”.

The Naylors’ four-bedroom home in Milton Keynes acts like a mini-power station after retrofitting solar panels, a battery and a heat pump

Clare Naylor paid close attention to how much energy she and her family were using last winter, filling hot-water bottles and bringing out extra blankets to ensure they didn’t go over budget. This year, she won’t have to worry as she is guaranteed not to receive a bill.

While millions of British households face the highest energy charges in three years from this week after a 4% rise in the price cap, and predictions of a 16% increase in January, upgrades to Naylor’s home mean she will not have to pay a thing.