Andrew Sissons
@acjsissons.bsky.social
Day job: climate change, heat pumps, energy at Nesta Other stuff: low-fi economics on growth, cities & economic geography, general UK policy, occasional basic charts Bristol, he/him, lots of parenting / caring. Personal account.
New piece from me: Getting over the 2030 energy bill bump On how we're in a period of unusually high energy bills that we should be able to escape from - but only if we start making serious progress on electrification www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
The energy edit: getting over the 2030 energy bill bump
Every six weeks Andrew Sissons assesses the most important signals and trends underpinning the UK’s energy transition.
nesta.org.uk
New piece from me: Getting over the 2030 energy bill bump On how we're in a period of unusually high energy bills that we should be able to escape from - but only if we start making serious progress on electrification www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
The energy edit: getting over the 2030 energy bill bump
Every six weeks Andrew Sissons assesses the most important signals and trends underpinning the UK’s energy transition.
nesta.org.uk
Fun fact: as part of their Water Resources Management Plans, water companies are required to assess the full range of options for securing water supplies, which includes... ...towing *icebergs* up the Thames
Akshat Rathi@akshatrathi.bsky.social · 2d agoThis wasn't on my adaptation bingo card. "Romania used 180kg explosive to blow rock to divert water from drought-hit Danube to nuclear reactor." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
The Multi-Academy Trust in question seems appalling and I am glad it will be disbanded. I don’t think there is any evidence that the current behavioural approach in English schools (where there is still a lot of variance) is causing the mental health crisis or explosion in special needs.
This is a harrowing - though not surprising - read. It’s probably hard to quantify, but I think we need to know how widespread this approach is, and what impact it has on young people’s mental health
How parents and pupils took on 'cruel', 'authoritarian' schools - and won
Discipline at an academy trust went too far - parents, pupils and former teachers tell BBC Panorama.
bbc.co.uk
Well, the government has a seven page memo on devolution and England and... there is a lot in there! Will add some thoughts, but the most striking thing is the pace. A lot of the serious reforms are due to come in April 2028 - this is not a gradual roadmap! www.gov.uk/government/p...
Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement
This publication sets out this government's plan to fundamentally rewire the state by shifting power, funding and accountability from Whitehall to local leaders
gov.uk
Guess I should do some obligatory Bluesky Dad holiday pics… I really liked this train station at St Gervais, a French mountain resort, which has a new cable car next to it. Is there anywhere else you can change from a train to a ski lift?
Some thoughts on the government's devo announcement today: Overall, this is a great start on the govt's flagship agenda 1/
Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement (HTML)
gov.uk
Well, the government has a seven page memo on devolution and England and... there is a lot in there! Will add some thoughts, but the most striking thing is the pace. A lot of the serious reforms are due to come in April 2028 - this is not a gradual roadmap! www.gov.uk/government/p...
Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement
This publication sets out this government's plan to fundamentally rewire the state by shifting power, funding and accountability from Whitehall to local leaders
gov.uk
I had a go at getting 16-19 skills on the table for devolution ahead of the 2015 election, unsuccessfully. The key issue iirc was that a big chunk of 16-19 funding is for A-levels in FE colleges, and devolving that would mean treating schools and colleges differently for A-levels…
Anthony Painter@anthonypainter.bsky.social · 5d agoDevolution of 16-19 skills makes sense. I would add employment services and programmes to the devolution list to enable proper coherence. The Mayors who design learner focused systems that make the labour market and skills system navigable are the ones who will succeed feweek.co.uk/mayors-to-ta...
NBP front month gas also up 3% to....dun dun duuuuuhhh...149p/th. This means it is now exactly at the peak of the crisis, again/for now (take your pick).
Just want to defend the government slightly on the VAT cut… It is true that the VAT cut on its own is not a huge intervention, and that it is just moves costs from energy bills to government. But it has another benefit which could help in the long term: making electricity cheaper relative to gas
Jack Kessler@jackkessler.bsky.social · 2w ago"Taxpayer subsidies go on forever, but lower inflation lasts for 12 months only." — @chrisgiles.ft.com
Local Authority fans will enjoy that today Lancashire were playing at home, in Cumbria, at a ground that was formerly in West Yorkshire.
Andrew Sissons@acjsissons.bsky.social · 2w ago#MetrobankFever is one of the few remaining good hashtags on the internet, a throwback in every way
Ben Stokes making an unbeaten hundred in the Metrobank on its opening day is just superb
Side stepping the funding longevity bit, this will have little effect straight away (maybe a 3% cut on your dual fuel bill)... But, winter 26 is when some big AR4 wind farms start to materially hit the network which will push more decoupling of gas and power price, so it compounds with that. Good!
Andrew Sissons@acjsissons.bsky.social · 2w agoThe new government’s first big policy announcement is removing VAT from electricity bills - from October onwards. Should save £40 - £45 on a typical annual bill and reduce the price ratio to about 3.4 (assuming bills don’t otherwise change dramatically in October) www.gov.uk/government/n...
The new government’s first big policy announcement is removing VAT from electricity bills - from October onwards. Should save £40 - £45 on a typical annual bill and reduce the price ratio to about 3.4 (assuming bills don’t otherwise change dramatically in October) www.gov.uk/government/n...
New PM cuts tax on household electricity bills to give breathing space on cost of living
New Prime Minister takes immediate action to cut taxes on electricity bills to give millions of households breathing space this winter.
gov.uk
This is tremendous www.theguardian.com/football/202...
A pioneer and a superstar, Kevin Keegan’s achievements were extraordinary
The former England manager may be remembered by many for his ‘I’d love it’ rant in 1996, but that should not obscure the remarkable nature of his football career
theguardian.com
Still no Prime Minister change, so... here's another big paper we put out on Saturday. This one is quite spicy, and it's something we think needs some debate: a Gas Price Stabiliser. In short: gas price volatility is bad. We should consider fixing or limiting fluctuation of the household gas price
Energy affordability options: introduce a gas price stabiliser
The case for introducing a gas price stabiliser.
nesta.org.uk
We put out a flurry of papers about energy bills on Saturday morning, and I wanted to follow up on some of the more interesting ideas in there. First, here is the case for setting a Price Ratio Target. We think the UK government should aim for electricity to cost 2.9 times gas or less...
Energy affordability options: establish a price ratio target
The case for establishing a price ratio target.
nesta.org.uk
Nico Williams pressing the wrong combination of buttons on the PlayStation controller there
Cancel the second half, pretend the half time show never happened, just have a mascot race to decide the World Cup
Andrew Sissons@acjsissons.bsky.social · 2w agoThe only half time show format for me:
UK territorial carbon emissions have fallen by over half since 1990 - with most progress since the late 2000s. Net zero is a continuation of that pathway to zero by 2050. www.theccc.org.uk/publication/...
Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2w ago"Overall carbon emissions have increased" in the UK, because of Net Zero, Kemi Badenoch repeatedly tells the BBC, to no pushback. Just completely untrue
We’ve published some other ideas alongside this, including: - A price ratio target of 2.9 or lower - A Gas Price Stabiliser, which would end the damaging volatility in household gas prices Also more detail on abolishing the gas standing charge. Read it all here: www.nesta.org.uk/feature/ener...
Energy affordability: rewiring the rules for a warmer Britain
Three policy options that can dramatically reduce bills for duel-fuel households while significantly reducing the electricity-to-gas price ratio
nesta.org.uk
Our proposed package would cut the typical bill by £130, and involves: - Removing the remaining levies on electricity bills - Removing VAT on electricity -Abolishing the gas standing charge, moving it to unit costs - Forgiving £2.7bn of electricity debt which raises everyone’s bills
I remember when I first started at the Environment Agency, I asked about wildfires and was told they are more a function of drought than heat
Ian Hall@ianhall.bsky.social · 3w agoThe phrase “UK wildfire season” would have sounded strange not long ago. Now it’s becoming increasingly familiar. Climate change isn’t just about hotter days, it’s increasing the conditions that allow wildfires to ignite, spread, and become harder to contain. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The phrase “UK wildfire season” would have sounded strange not long ago. Now it’s becoming increasingly familiar. Climate change isn’t just about hotter days, it’s increasing the conditions that allow wildfires to ignite, spread, and become harder to contain. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Wildfires destroy moorland size of 1,250 football pitches
Hundreds of hectares of "precious" moorland have been burned by wildfires, United Utilities says.
bbc.co.uk
