In an upcoming article in the February issue of the Wiley journal, Natural Gas & Electricity, NERA Managing Director Dr. Jeff D. Makholm explores the potential for a positive impact on “British” gas from Brexit and divestiture. Under the current scheme, EU legislation bans point-to-point contracts for regular gas transport on the existing EU pipeline system. EU legislation also removes the local gas distributor from the role of seeking and buying gas that is in the best interests of its locally connected customers. These policies, originally developed in response to a privatized British Gas and later adopted as the EU standard, have contributed heavily to a virtual paralysis of Europe’s gas industry. In a world of growing gas use that is helping to decarbonize other economies, Europe’s gas industry is in decline. Dr. Makholm views the rough structural and political break of Brexit as providing an opportunity for UK policymakers to revisit the country’s gas industry problems—and, ironically, become a new example for the EU.

Makholm, Jeff D. (2017, February). Brexit and Divestiture Provides New Hope for “British” Gas. Natural Gas & Electricity 33/7, ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., a Wiley company.