INDEX REVEALS SLIGHT FALL IN COST OF ENERGY CONTINUES

Don’t expect fracking to significantly reduce UK gas prices, advise sustainability engineers

Energy prices continued to fall by a further 1% in the third quarter of 2013, latest data from the Lorien Energy Index (LEI) has revealed. It still shows an overall increase however, of 8% over the past 12 months.

The Lorien Energy Index, which is produced by Lorien Engineering Solutions, monitors the overall cost of energy for business users. It enables companies of all sizes to make sense of their current energy consumption and look at ways they can make savings in the future.

Current industry expectations are that energy costs will continue to rise, putting the spotlight on energy managers to act now to first conserve and then decarbonise, using technologies such as renewables, which are often regarded as a “hidden fuel”.

Lorien’s engineering director Steve Turner said that investment in “first fuel” low carbon, efficient and renewable technologies, and not an expectation that technologies such as fracking will significantly bring prices down, would help to future-proof businesses against further increases.

“The industry expectation is that fracking will not see a reduction in gas prices in the UK, especially as export prices to Europe will remain lucrative,” he said.

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