Mike Thompson
@mikethommo.bsky.social
Chief Economist at National Energy System Operator. Formerly same at CCC. Independent expert advice on #energy #netzero.
Pinned
1/ Some wild numbers have been used in the media this week for “the cost of net zero”.
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
Reposted by Mike Thompson
Here's how Aurora Energy Research sees the UK offshore wind auction (AR7) cutting bills for consumers "£1bn by 2035"
* CfD payments go up
* Other costs go up (balancing, capacity mkt)
* Wholesale prices go down
* Overall costs go down
www.linkedin.com/posts/ivan-b...
* CfD payments go up
* Other costs go up (balancing, capacity mkt)
* Wholesale prices go down
* Overall costs go down
www.linkedin.com/posts/ivan-b...
January 15, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Here's how Aurora Energy Research sees the UK offshore wind auction (AR7) cutting bills for consumers "£1bn by 2035"
* CfD payments go up
* Other costs go up (balancing, capacity mkt)
* Wholesale prices go down
* Overall costs go down
www.linkedin.com/posts/ivan-b...
* CfD payments go up
* Other costs go up (balancing, capacity mkt)
* Wholesale prices go down
* Overall costs go down
www.linkedin.com/posts/ivan-b...
Reposted by Mike Thompson
Here's the other side of the story you won't read in today's headlines about the cost of meeting net zero targets. The reality is the IEA report is deeply flawed and based on some pretty blatant cherry-picking of clean tech costs. www.businessgreen.com/news/4524063...
'Cherry picking data': Government and analysts hit back at latest Tufton Street attacks on net zero
Right wing think tank accuses Climate Change Committee of overly optimistic clean tech cost estimates, but supporters of climate action counter that latest criticisms fail to recognise risks associate...
www.businessgreen.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Here's the other side of the story you won't read in today's headlines about the cost of meeting net zero targets. The reality is the IEA report is deeply flawed and based on some pretty blatant cherry-picking of clean tech costs. www.businessgreen.com/news/4524063...
Reposted by Mike Thompson
Truly wild that the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express & Daily Telegraph all covered false claims that net-zero will "cost" £7.6bn – or even £9tn – which assumes we could have free gas, free petrol, free petrol cars & free gas power plants if we scrapped net-zero
More here: bsky.app/profile/drsi...
More here: bsky.app/profile/drsi...
January 13, 2026 at 10:10 AM
Truly wild that the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express & Daily Telegraph all covered false claims that net-zero will "cost" £7.6bn – or even £9tn – which assumes we could have free gas, free petrol, free petrol cars & free gas power plants if we scrapped net-zero
More here: bsky.app/profile/drsi...
More here: bsky.app/profile/drsi...
1/ Some wild numbers have been used in the media this week for “the cost of net zero”.
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
January 13, 2026 at 7:32 PM
1/ Some wild numbers have been used in the media this week for “the cost of net zero”.
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
Reports have said that net zero will “cost” £4.5 trillion, £7.6 trillion – the list goes on.
None of these are the cost of net zero – a quick explainer 🧵 on why
Hello #EnergySky, nice to be here.
If you'd like to hear about NESO's Clean Power 2030 advice, check out this convo I had with Rob. Covers challenges, definition, scenarios, costs and cutting the link with gas prices. Enjoy!
If you'd like to hear about NESO's Clean Power 2030 advice, check out this convo I had with Rob. Covers challenges, definition, scenarios, costs and cutting the link with gas prices. Enjoy!
New podcast alert! 🔊
Following advice from NESO to the UK Government on achieving Clean Power by 2030, in the latest episode of the Talking Energy podcast UKERC Director Robert Gross and @mikethommo.bsky.social dive into the challenges of meeting this ambitious target.
ukerc.ac.uk/news/talking...
Following advice from NESO to the UK Government on achieving Clean Power by 2030, in the latest episode of the Talking Energy podcast UKERC Director Robert Gross and @mikethommo.bsky.social dive into the challenges of meeting this ambitious target.
ukerc.ac.uk/news/talking...
Talking Energy: The UKERC Podcast – Examining the Clean Power Mission with Mike Thompson
Following the publication of NESO’s advice to Government on achieving Clean Power by 2030, Rob Gross and Chief...
ukerc.ac.uk
December 11, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Hello #EnergySky, nice to be here.
If you'd like to hear about NESO's Clean Power 2030 advice, check out this convo I had with Rob. Covers challenges, definition, scenarios, costs and cutting the link with gas prices. Enjoy!
If you'd like to hear about NESO's Clean Power 2030 advice, check out this convo I had with Rob. Covers challenges, definition, scenarios, costs and cutting the link with gas prices. Enjoy!