British Energy

Background

British Energy is Britain's largest producer of electricity, generating around one-fifth of the nation's electricity. British Energy was privatised and floated in 1996. Nuclear Electric constitutes half of British Energy. BE currently owns and operates two thirds of UK's nuclear power stations.

Mike Alexander its ex-Chief Executive was an enthusiastic proponent of nuclear energy. Delivering the keynote speech at a gathering of UK's leading energy figures organized by the Energy Industries Club, he declared that the volume of waste produced by nuclear energy is trivial, "equivalent to 24 double-decker buses a year".

The American Bill Coley is BE's new Chief Executive, who took over in March 2005. He has been labelled by the press as the "ambassador for Britain's next nuclear age." Coley argues that the only way for Britain to reduce its climate dioxide emissions is nuclear. "I will tell you from the mathematics it is not possible to meet the climate change objectives of the country and sustain the economy without new nuclear facilities". Coley argues that renewables such as wind will only have a "niche" role in the future. "When you take a look at the environmental impact of nuclear generation I think it is far more attractive than many of the other technologies," argues Coley..

PR and Lobbying

In 2003/04 BE retained PPS Group a specialist PR agency focused on influencing local government particularly in relation to planning issues. In early 2004 BE dropped Hill & Knowlton as its retained PA adviser after 14 years. In October 2004, British Energy appointed Craig Stevenson, a former UK lobbyist for Monsanto as the head of government affairs and in December it enlisted Helen Liddell, the former energy minister, to provide "strategic advice" on a short contract for a fee of roughly £15,000. BE also commissioned the services of Financial Dynamics, a PR firm, for a sum of £1million.

British Energy is a founding member of the Scottish Parliament Business Exchange and helped to fund the Science Media Centre

PR Agencies

• BIG Partnership

A "Blank Cheque" from the Government

In March 2006, the National Audit Office released a scathing report into the finances of British Energy. Acccording to the Guardian: "The government's decision to bail out the nuclear power generator British Energy has left the taxpayer facing 'a large and uncertain liability', the National Audit Office has warned" In February 2006, British Energy had also revealed that the liabilities underwritten by the tax payer had increased by £1 billlion to £5.1 billion. The Department of Trade and Industry was also heavilly criticised by the NAO for failing to keep a careful eye on the £29.1 million fees charged by city firms in relation to British Energy. On 24 September 2008, it was announced that Électricité de France (EDF), the state owned French energy company, had agreed a takeover of the company, paying £12.5 billion.

Key Personnel

Chief Executive:

Bill Coley

Corporate memberships

• Science Media Centre
• Scottish Parliament Business Exchange

Related Articles

• Tim Webb, "Analysis: Nuclear haze",Independent on Sunday, November 27, 2005
• Jonathan Leake and Dan Box, When PR goes nuclear, New Statesman, May 27, 2005
• ^ Terry Macalister, "Ministers 'Wrote Blank Cheque' to Bail out Nuclear Power Group" The Guardian, March 17, 2006
• ^ National Audit Office, "The Department of Trade and Industry: The Restructuring of British Energy" Press Release, March 17, 2006
• ^ Christopher Hope, Watchdog Attacks ?29.1m Spending, Daily Telegraph, March 17, 2006