Get used to ‘new era of high energy prices,’ expert says

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

admin

close video KT McFarland says US should use Reagan tactics against Russia: We need to become energy-dominant

K.T. McFarland, former deputy national security adviser, says the Ukraine-Russia war is ‘escalating’ and believes there needs to be a third option to end the war on ‘The Evening Edit.’

Energy prices have plummeted due to concerns over the banking crisis, but this is likely only a short-term dip, according to an energy expert.

Unfortunately, this means customers who have been facing soaring bills won't see much relief.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the price of electricity, specifically in the residential sector, will increase in 2023 and in 2024. In 2022, the average cost of electricity in the U.S. was 15.12 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's projected to rise to 15.63 and 15.66 cents over the next two years, according to EIA data.

Workers with Southern California Edison replace a transformer on Holt Street in Santa Ana, Calif., Sept. 10, 2021. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Getty Images)

"I'm afraid we're going to have to get used to a new era of higher energy prices across the board," Price Futures Group Senior Analyst Phil Flynn told FOX Business. Flynn is also a FOX Business contributor.

FOOD, RENT AND ENERGY PRICES REMAIN HIGH IN FEBRUARY INFLATION BREAKDOWN

Flynn explained that energy prices are plunging on concerns over the banking crisis, which unfolded two weeks ago when Silicon Valley Bank failed, and not because demand for oil supplies has suddenly dried up.

"Supplies versus demand are about as tight as they have ever been," he added.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PROPOSE MAJOR ENERGY AND PERMITTING REFORM PACKAGE

A Pacific Gas & Electric worker walks in front of a truck in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu / AP Newsroom)

Global energy consumption has rebounded from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply was barely keeping pace with demand before the war in Ukraine further reduced stockpiles. As a result, energy prices remain elevated, squeezing already tight household budgets even further.

The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) announced in January it had the highest total number of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) applications this winter since 2011 "as families struggle with paying some of their biggest home energy bills in more than a decade."

MARKETS MAY BE UNDERESTIMATING THE THREAT OF HIGH INFLATION, BLACKROCK WARNS

During winter, the number of households receiving energy assistance jumped by an estimated 1.3 million. This doesn't "even account for possible increases in applications this summer to help families pay for air conditioning as they deal with rising temperatures due to climate change," the NEADA added.

If the banking situation stabilizes, it will actually make matters worse with respect to oil supplies, according to Flynn.

An electric meter outside a home. (iStock / iStock)

"It will actually be more bullish for energy prices because the banks are going to be less likely to lend money," he said, adding that oil companies that are uncertain about the economy might not follow through on making investments in oil.

"On top of that, you have the current administration that makes it difficult to get a project off the ground anyway."

UNDERLYING ENERGY MARKET CONDITIONS COULD SIGNAL PAIN FOR CONSUMERS THIS WINTER AND BEYOND

All those factors would contribute to a "massive underinvestment" in future supplies, which, in turn, could cause higher energy prices "for decades maybe to come," he added.

"At the end of the day, demand is on an upward trend and production is not keeping up, and it's going to have a difficult time keeping up because the investment dollars just aren't there," he said.

A gas stove lets off a blue flame inside a kitchen in Barcelona. (Davide Bonaldo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Image / Getty Images)

If we want low energy prices at this point, you have to "be rooting for a recession or a major economic slowdown," Flynn noted.

However, given that the supply and demand balance is so tight, "if the economy continues to grow, prices are going to have to go up to move demand and encourage future investment," according to Flynn.

It's important to keep in mind, though, that bills are contingent on electricity usage as well as the price of energy.

For instance, Consolidated Edison Inc., or ConEd, which provides energy to roughly 10 million people in New York City and Westchester County, has been advising customers to be "particularly mindful of managing their usage at a time when energy prices are high across the country." close video US energy needs to be ‘affordable, reliable and cleaner’: Chevron CEO Mike Wirth

Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth discussed the oil company’s growth outlook and Biden’s energy agenda on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

Luckily, a warmer winter helped to depress energy usage, meaning customers didn't see the big spike in bills that happened in January 2022, a spokesperson for ConEd told FOX Business.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Still, the company has been offering its customers payment plans to help ease the financial burden.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift announces 12th studio album

Published

2 hours ago

August 12, 2025

admin

Taylor Swift announces 12th studio album

Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album during an appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast.

The pop megastar, appearing on New Heights, did not say when the record, titled The Life Of A Showgirl, will be released.

Fans can pre-order the album in various formats now and Swift’s website says physical copies will be shipped by 13 October.

On Monday, Taylor Nation – an official branch of the singer’s marketing team – teased the release on TikTok with a slideshow of 12 images alongside the caption: “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…'”

Swift is seen wearing orange in every picture.

A special limited vinyl edition of the album will be released in “Portofino orange glitter”, according to a pre-order page on her site. A special cassette edition is also available for pre-order.

A brief clip from the New Heights podcast, hosted by Swift’s NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, a former NFL player, was posted on Instagram early on Tuesday.

The video showed Swift pulling a copy of the album from a briefcase with the cover blurred.

The full podcast episode will be released at 11pm on Tuesday, UK time.

Swift is living up to her reputation as pop’s hardest-working star

Gemma Peplow

Culture and entertainment reporter

@gemmapeplow

You might think that after pulling off the highest-grossing tour in history, all while writing and releasing an unexpected record-breaking double album at the same time, Taylor Swift would be happy to take a little break.

But no. The singer-songwriter has announced her 12th album, her sixth in six years.

Since her self-titled debut in 2006, the longest period Swifties have had to wait is just three years, between 2014’s 1989 and 2017’s Reputation; the period in which the star took time out following her public feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Over the past few years, Swift has also re-recorded and re-released four of her early albums in a (now resolved) battle over the rights to her master recordings.

With the new announcement, she’s living up to her reputation as the hardest-working star in pop.

Album number 12 is titled The Life Of A Showgirl, hinting at inspiration drawn from spending the best part of two years on the road – and perhaps a return to pop after embracing folk and her more gothic side.

Fans are now eagerly waiting to find out what Swift’s new era will bring.

New Heights had previously teased Swift’s appearance by posting an orange image on social media with a mysterious silhouette, which many correctly identified as the pop star.

The Life Of A Showgirl follows Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, released last year during her record-breaking Eras tour, which generated more than $2.2bn (£1.6bn) across two years and five continents, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time.

It marks her first release since she took back control over her entire back catalogue from private equity firm Shamrock Capital for an undisclosed amount.

In an effort to regain control over her music in recent years, Swift has been re-recording and releasing her first six albums. The move was prompted by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun’s purchase and sale of her early catalogue.

Some of the ‘Taylor’s Version’ releases have included new songs as well as Easter eggs and visuals to offer a deeper understanding of her work.

The four re-recorded albums released so far have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one entering the Billboard 200 US album chart at number one, helping her become the woman with the most number one albums in history.

UK

Thames Water crisis: Ministers line up administrator for utility giant

Published

2 hours ago

August 12, 2025

admin

Ministers have lined up insolvency practitioners to prepare for the potential collapse of Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water utility.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has signed off the appointment of FTI Consulting to advise on contingency plans for Thames Water to be placed into a Special Administration regime (SAR).

Sources said on Tuesday that the advisory role established FTI Consulting as the frontrunner to act as the company’s administrator if it fails to secure a private sector bailout – although approval of such an appointment would be decided in court.

Money latest: Supermarket coffee beats big brands in taste test

Thames Water, its largest group of creditors and Ofwat, the industry regulator, have been locked in talks for months about a deal that would see its lenders injecting about £5bn of new capital and writing off roughly £12bn of value across its capital structure.

The discussions are said to be progressing constructively, although they appear to rely in part on the prospect of the company being granted forbearance on hundreds of millions of pounds of regulatory fines.

Responding to an enquiry from Sky News on Tuesday, a government spokesperson said: “The government will always act in the national interest on these issues.

“The company remains financially stable, but we have stepped up our preparations and stand ready for all eventualities, including applying for a Special Administration Regime if that were to become necessary.”

Insiders stressed that FTI Consulting’s engagement by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) did not signal that Thames Water was about to collapse into insolvency proceedings.

A SAR would ensure that customers would continue to receive water and sewage services if Thames Water collapsed, while putting taxpayers on the hook for billions of pounds in bailout costs – a scenario the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is keen to avoid at a time when the public finances are already severely constrained.

The SAR process can only be instigated in the event that a company becomes insolvent, can no longer fulfil its statutory duties or breaches an enforcement order, according to insiders.

Mr Reed has repeatedly stressed the government’s desire to avoid taking Thames Water into temporary public ownership, but that it was ready to deal with “all eventualities”.

“Thames Water must meet its statutory and regulatory obligations to its customers and to the environment–it is only right that the company is subject to the same consequences as any other water company.

The company remains financially stable, but we have stepped up our preparations and stand ready for all eventualities,” he told the House of Commons in June.

Thames Water, which has about 16m customers, serves about a quarter of the UK’s population.

It is drowning under close to £20bn of debt, and was previously owned by Macquarie, the Australian infrastructure and banking behemoth.

Its most recent consortium of shareholders, which included the Universities Superannuation Scheme and an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, have written off the value of their investments in the company.

The government’s SAR process has only been tested once before, when the energy retailer Bulb failed in 2021.

Bulb was ultimately sold to Octopus Energy with the taxpayer funding used to save and run the company since having been repaid.

Thames Water is racing to secure a rescue plan involving funds such as Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital, with a deadline of late October to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority against Ofwat’s final determination on its next five-year spending plan.

Ofwat has ruled that Thames Water can spend £20.5bn during the period from 2026, with the company arguing that it requires a further sum of approximately £4bn.

Mike McTighe, a veteran corporate troubleshooter who chairs BT Group’s Openreach division, has been parachuted in to work with the funds.

The company said in its accounts last month that there was “material uncertainty” over whether it could be solvently recapitalised.

Earlier this year, Thames Water was fined a record £123m over sewage leaks and the payment of dividends, with Ofwat lambasting the company over its performance and governance.

In recent weeks, Thames Water has been engulfed in a row over the legitimacy of bonuses paid to chief executive Chris Weston and other bosses, even as it attempts to secure its survival.

Under new laws, Thames Water is among half a dozen water companies which have been barred from paying bonuses this year because of their poor environmental records.

The creditor group was effectively left as the sole bidder for Thames Water after the private equity firm KKR withdrew from the process, citing political and reputational risks.

The Hong Kong-based investor CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI), which already owns Northumbrian Water, has sought to re-engage in talks about a rescue deal but has gained little traction in doing so.

News of FTI Consulting’s appointment also comes on the same day as a “nationally significant” water shortfall was declared across swathes of the country.

Last week, Sky News revealed that David Black, the Ofwat chief executive, was to step down following the publication of a government-commissioned review which recommended the regulator’s abolition.

He has been replaced by Chris Walters, another Ofwat executive, on an interim basis.

Technology

Why a new UK internet safety law is causing an outcry on both sides of the Atlantic

Published

2 hours ago

August 12, 2025

admin

Why a new UK internet safety law is causing an outcry on both sides of the Atlantic

As of July 25, porn sites are required to implement effective age verification methods for U.K. users.

Jack Taylor | Getty Images

It was well intentioned but a U.K. law mandating age verification on adult sites and a number of other platforms has sparked a backlash from both internet users in the country, and U.S. politicians and tech giants.

Last month, new provisions in the Online Safety Act requiring large online platforms to implement age checks to prevent children from accessing pornographic and appropriate material came into force.

The measures have led PornHub, RedTube and other porn sites to force U.K. visitors to sign up and verify their age to gain access to their services.

What is the Online Safety Act?

Broadly, the Online Safety Act is a law that imposes a duty of care on social media firms and other user-generated content sites to ensure they take responsibility for harmful content uploaded and spread on their platforms.

In particular, the legislation aims to prevent children from being exposed to pornographic content and material that promotes suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or abusive and hateful behaviour.

The regulation has been years in the making and faced numerous delays in its development — not least due to concerns that it may infringe internet users’ right to privacy and result in censorship.

Why has it led to backlash?

The latest measures have been imposed with the aim of ensuring children aren’t able to view harmful and inappropriate content.

However, they have led to complaints from internet users due to the requirement of having to share personal information such as their ID, credit card details and selfies — in some cases for platforms that don’t even qualify as porn sites.

Spotify, Reddit, X and a number of other platforms have introduced their own respective age verification systems to stop users under the age of 18 from consuming explicit content.

These moves have subsequently led to providers of virtual private networks (VPNs) to report that their services, which allow users to mask their location, are surging in the U.K.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Wikipedia was dealt a legal blow in the U.K. as a High Court judge ruled the platform should be treated as a “category one” service, which would subject to certain user verification requirements.

The Online Safety Act requires category one platforms to offer users the ability to verify their identity and access tools that reduce their exposure to content from non-verified users.

Wikimedia, the parent company of Wikipedia, has said previously that it could limit visitor numbers from the U.K. in order to exempt it from category one status.

U.S. politicians weigh in

A number of U.S. politicians have blasted the new rules in recent days. Last week, Vice President JD Vance — who has previously criticized the U.K.’s internet safety rules — again raised concerns with the law, fearing it could unfairly restrict American tech companies.

“I just don’t want other countries to follow us down what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration,” Vance told reporters during a trip to the country last week.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who also visited the U.K. recently, said in a statement after his return that sweeping online safety laws in Europe are having “a serious chilling effect on free expression and threaten the First Amendment rights of American citizens and companies.”

There has been speculation over whether the U.S. may press Britain to relax the regulations during trade talks — however, U.K. officials say the issue is not open to debate.

Could other countries follow suit?

Other countries are already adopting their own respective internet age verification laws.

Australia and Ireland have both passed similar age verification measures, while Denmark, Greece, Spain, France and Italy have started testing a common age verification app to protect users online.

In the U.S., Louisiana passed a law in 2022 requiring age verification on websites where at least a third of the content is of an adult nature, while several other states are seeking to pass similar legislation.