The latest credit review of EU countries dealt a harsh blow to the Eurozone last week with the second most robust economy in the economic region, France, seeing their perfect triple AAA rating dropped to AA+.  This put further pressure on the financial markets, increasing fears that the single currency's long term future was even more uncertain. 

 Scottish Power have joined SSE and Eon in announcing that they intend to trade a percentage of their generation capacity through one of the UK's power exchanges.  The SSE group were first to announce their commitment to sell off capacity through a power exchange rather than "Over the Counter" trades several months ago. The move has been welcomed by Ofgem as this was one of their key criticisms of the UK market as the "Big Six" effectively monopolised both generation and supply, making it difficult for smaller suppliers to purchase electricity at a fair negotiated rate.

For the first time this winter Hydro levels around the region have come under pressure as Mainland Europe saw the first period of prolonged freezing temperatures.  The effect has been most apparent in the Nordic region where Hydro makes up the largest percentage of generation capacity.

With only three months left of the current CRC year, many customers attention should now be focusing on the preparation of consumption data ready for evidence packs.  Requests for annual statements need to be made in a timely manner to ensure it is not rejected by the supplier. One supplier has been quick to react to the upcoming request period and  has sent out templates they wish their customers to use when requesting annual statements.

The future of CRC is unknown as Phase 2 details have yet to be published.  Official consultations and various pressure groups appear to be telling the government that the scheme is over complex and a considerable burden on an already under pressure industrial/commercial sector.  If the government wish to continue to fight climate change with a financial contribution from business most believe that the most efficient way would be to increase the Climate Change Levy, eliminating costs on both the consumer's side and the government's side through the administration of the scheme by the EA.