Energy Industries Club

This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch.

Background

The Energy Industries Club (EIC) is an energy industry body.

Its website says that members meet over eight lunches a year, at the Naval and Military Club in St James Square, London. It says that a "high profile guest speaker provides a brief presentation and opportunity for lively discussion" about "current and future challenges affecting the energy industry".

Pro-nuclear lobbying

On March 15, 2005, the club organized a gathering of UK's top opinion formers – analysts, corporate traders and members of the media – to hear a speech by Mike Alexander, the Chief Executive of British Energy entitled "UK Nuclear Energy: fuel of the future?".

An article by Jonathan Leake and Dan Box in the New Statesman said that this was part of a "nuclear charm offensive" by the industry.

The article described how the EIC had invited "more than a hundred leading figures from the UK's energy industry" to hear the speech. "Around the room were a selection of top opinion formers: analysts, corporate traders and members of the media. The journalists could not report the event directly - the invitations were based on so-called Chatham House rules, meaning it was for "background use only". What they were meant to take home was a message: nuclear power is coming back."

Committee

The following people are listed on the Club’s website:

President

• Mike Rolls, Director of Business Development and Government Affairs at Siemens Energy Sector; formerly Sales Director at Alstom Power

Past Presidents

• Louise Kingham
• Dr Jeff Chapman
• William Fortescue
• Dr Robert Hawley
• David Jefferies
• Michael Lodge
• David Porter, CEO of Association of Electricity Producers
• Dr Alf Roberts

Members

• David Green
• John Ingham
• Robert Lane, a lawyer who has advised nuclear companies
• Chris Murray
• Lawrence Slade, Chief Operating Officer of Energy UK
• David Smith, Chief Executive of the Energy Networks Association
• Graham Ward, vice chairman of the World Energy Council

Secretary/Treasurer

• Steve Blackwell

Guest speakers

In 2012 and 2013, guest speakers have included:

• Tim Yeo MP, Chairman, DECC Select Committee
• Geoffrey Spence, CEO, Infrastructure UK
• Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State, Energy and Climate Change
• Tony Cocker, CEO, E.ON UK
• Basil Scarsella, CEO, UK Power Networks
• Ian Marchant, CEO, Scottish & Southern Energy
• Graham van’t Hoff, Chairman, Shell UK

In 2005/6, guest speakers included:

• Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP
• Vincent de Rivaz, CEO, EDF Energy
• Rt Hon Malcolm Wicks MP, Energy Minister
• Alistair Buchanan, CEO, Ofgem
• James Smith, Chairman Shell UK
• Bill Coley, CEO, British Energy
• Andreas Nauen, President, Siemens Wind, Denmark

Playing down Fukishima

In July 2011, four months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Vincent de Rivaz, CEO of EDF Energy made a speech to the EIC in which he asked "what impact has Fukushima had? Has it fundamentally altered the process?" He continued: "The answer is no."

He said that the "new nuclear programme in the UK should not be subject to unnecessary delay". He thanked the Energy Minister Charles Hendry, who was also at the meeting. He said: "Charles is held in high regard throughout the industry. I would like to thank him and his colleagues across Government for the leadership they have demonstrated in recent months".

Allegation of secrecy

The New Statesman article also stated that the EIC "keeps its membership secret". It was published in May 2005, almost seven years before the club set up its website.

A Complaint and Request To Remove From the Site

NuclearSpin created a page about the EIC in 2006 that used the New Statesman article as source material.

It subsequently received a request from the EIC to remove its listing from the website. The EIC's Secretary and Treasurer, Steve Blackwell, said that the article was “garbage”. He argued that it "tried to imply that the Energy Industries Club is some sort of ‘secret society’ supporting nuclear". He added: "It is nothing of the sort - purely one where people with an interest in energy meet over lunch with high level speakers from across the sector. Some members used to work in the sector and remain members even though they are retired. We have former Chairmen of the major energy companies who still attend occasionally”.

Blackwell pointed out that the meeting to which Dan Box was invited was conducted under Chatham House rules (which the article itself said) and therefore should not have been reported. He also said that the membership list was not secret as such; it was just never given out to protect members.

Although the EIC said it is neither pro nor anti-nuclear, it has pro-nuclear members. Blackwell, who has a history of working in the gas industry, argued that although he has no axe to grind either way on nuclear, if we are going to have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions then as Britain’s ageing nuclear power plants are decommissioned they are going to have to be replaced by new nuclear power plants.

'Meetings are private'

It is worth noting that the EIC's website states: "To facilitate free discussion, meetings are private with no reporting of the proceedings."

Related Articles

Jonathan Leake and Dan Box, The Nuclear Charm Offensive, New Statesman, May 23, 2005

Website

www.eicuk.org