Political parties in Scotland should commit to a national strategy to help businesses and consumers reduce and manage their demand for electricity, environmental and energy groups have said.
WWF Scotland and Edinburgh-based company Flexitricity have stressed that implementing a concerted strategy regarding electricity consumption would mean Scotland could avoid the need to build expensive new fossil fuel power stations and more rapidly cut climate emissions.
The groups also asserted that such a strategy must go beyond energy efficiency, and include measures to increasingly tap into the vast existing “invisible“ power network of industrial, commercial and public sector organisations.
Ukraine has restored electricity to the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula more than two weeks after it was cut off, according to the administration in the Kherson region.
All electricity supplies from mainland Ukraine were cut off on November 22 when unknown attackers blew up pylons leading to Crimea, leaving the region of two million people with no power.
A power station is to stop generating electricity and will close after 46 years.
E.ON said the Ironbridge Power Station in Shropshire will reach its 20,000 hours limit of generation under an EU directive aimed at lowering emissions of certain pollutants.
Former employee Mike Smith has been invited back to press the button to end generation on Friday and mark the closure of the plant, which used to be powered by coal but was converted to biomass in 2012.
The carbon content of electricity generation in Ireland fell to a record low last year, according to new figures by the (SEAI) Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.
Renewable electricity help the country avoid 2.6million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2014 and is now one of the single biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions reduction in Ireland.
The body said without renewables, power generation emissions would have been around 23% higher.
Icelandic volcanoes could be providing power to British homes, under plans to be announced by David Cameron.
The Prime Minister, attending the Northern Future Forum in Reykjavik, is expected to say that the UK and Iceland are to look at establishing an electricity pipeline between the two countries.
The multi-billion pound “interconnector” - involving 750 miles of undersea cabling - would enable the direct export of hydro and geothermal-generated electricity to be exported directly to Britain.
Campaigners are calling on householders to help elderly friends and relatives find cheaper energy deals after finding that almost nine in 10 bill payers did not switch in the last year.
The new figure from Ofgem, based on data from household meters, found that 88% of energy customers have not switched in the last year despite widespread advice that doing so can save hundreds of pounds.
A separate poll for Big Energy Saving Week, a joint campaign with Energy Saving Trust, Department of Energy and Climate Change and Citizens Advice, found 45% of people did not believe they could save money by switching and 75% of people who did thought it would be £100 or less.
An SNP MP claims Danny Alexander should have secured major reform of the electricity market while he was in office.
Ian Blackford spoke out after Mr Alexander suggested the Highlands were being “let down” by a Tory majority government and “impotent” Nationalist MPs in opposition.
Mr Alexander, former Inverness MP and chief secretary to the Treasury, was furious when the UK Government shelved a scheme he led to cut power bills in the north.
The chancellor announced in the March Budget that ministers would consult on a plan to reduce electricity prices for families in the area by an average £30 a year. But it is understood the consultation was not carried out and officials now intend to look at the issue as part of a regular review of a subsidy scheme instead.
Companies including Nike, Procter & Gamble, Asda-owner Walmart and Starbucks have pledged to use 100% renewable electricity.
Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, furniture company Steelcase and financial firm Voya Financial have also made the commitment to source all of their electricity from renewables to reduce carbon emissions and seize business benefits.
The announcement by the US firms made at the Climate Week event in New York brings the number of companies around the world which have made the “RE100“ commitment to renewables to 36,
including Marks & Spencer, BT Group, Nestle and Ikea.
When it comes to promoting the virtues of a new electric bus route, it helps when you have the clout of Volvo to persuade one of Sweden's top pop star's to perform on board the number 55 route in Gothenberg.
Scotland’s summer may have been a washout, but the wet and windy weather has proved to be a “belter” for renewable energy, with the amount of electricity produced by wind turbines up by more than 50% on last year.
Wind power alone supplied 660,117.23 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity to the National Grid in July, which is enough to supply on average the needs of 72% of Scottish homes - the equivalent of 1.75 million households.
That is up by 58% from the same month in 2014, according to environmental campaigners at WWF Scotland.
TransCanada Corp, which divides its business between pipelines and power plants, reported higher second-quarter profit as electricity prices in Alberta rose and the company transported more fuel.
A wide-ranging review of the high cost of electricity in the north and north-east will be carried out by the UK Government following a campaign by Energy Voice's sister publication, the Press and Journal.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell revealed last night that there "will be an opportunity to change things" over the coming months.
Families in the Highlands and islands, Grampian and Tayside currently pay the highest power bills in the UK because of a regional system for distribution costs.
A record 22.3% of electricity was generated by renewables such as wind, biomass and solar in the first three months of this year, figures show.
The share of UK power coming from renewables was 2.6 percentage points up on the first quarter of last year, and slightly higher than in the previous three months, the data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) revealed.
An islands MP has pledged to probe the country’s electricity market after being chosen to take charge of one of the most influential committees at Westminster.
It was announced yesterday that Angus MacNeil, who represents the Western Isles, will be the first SNP chairman of the energy and climate change select committee.
His appointment raised hopes in the north and north-east last night that the powerful group would continue to put pressure on the UK Government over the high cost of power in the area.
Cumulus Energy Storage (CES) has managed to raise £250,000 from its first round of seed investment.
The firm will use the cash to develop its renewable technology. CES is currently developing the low-cost, grid-level energy storage in a bid to reduce energy supply costs by developing prototype battery technology which can be used to cope with the rigours of the industry.
Renewable electricity projects will be able to compete for £300million of financial support, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey has announced.
The funding for Contracts for Difference (CFD) scheme is aimed at proving long-term certainty for investors as the UK government looks to reform electricity markets and create a new generation of clean, secure supplies.
