UK Energy Policy: Findings from Two Surveys

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the views of a set of ‘experts’ about UK energy policy, and to contribute to the debate about energy policy in the UK and elsewhere. The paper summarises the results of two surveys, carried out in November 1992 and December 1994, of the opinions of UK energy professionals. They were asked about the appropriateness and effectiveness of UK energy policy, about what objectives energy policy should seek to achieve and about how they should be achieved. Most respondents said that there should be a long-term energy policy, at the level of both the UK and Europe. Such a policy should create a regulatory framework that complements market forces in order to improve the efficiency of energy use and environmental quality, to enhance security of supplies and to reduce the costs of energy supplies. Around two-thirds, however, said that existing UK energy policies were inappropriate and ineffective. There were serious doubts about the effectiveness of the regulation of gas and electricity, particularly the latter. Opinions tended to be somewhat more favourable in 1994 than in 1992. Just under half the respondents wanted nuclear power to occupy a special place in policy, while two-fifths wanted a special place for electricity from renewable sources. While the experts’ desired energy policy objectives were broadly similar to those listed by the Government in 1994, the rankings were in many cases different. The energy professionals were not fully convinced that the objectives had been satisfactorily achieved. The paper also draws some wider lessons from the UK’s recent policy experience.