Yahoo Finance Arculus To Chair Lobbying Group Energy UK
A City grandee is to take the helm of the energy sector's main lobbying group just months before a general election campaign in which the industry will come under fire from across the political spectrum.
Sky News has learnt that Sir David Arculus is being lined up as the next chairman of Energy UK.
His appointment is understood to have been approved at a board meeting of the industry body last Thursday, and could be announced as soon as this week.
Sir David does not have a background in the energy sector, but leading members of Energy UK are said to have been keen to recruit a "more visible" chairman at a time when the organisation is in a state of leadership flux.
Angela Knight, the combative chief executive of Energy UK who previously led the British Bankers' Association, said in September that she would step down at the end of the year.
Sir David's first task will be to identify Mrs Knight's successor, although doing so will not be straightforward given the intense attention in Westminster on energy prices in the run-up to May's election.
His appointment will come weeks after National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) warned that the UK was at its highest risk of winter blackouts for seven years.
Meanwhile, the Big Six energy retailers - British Gas, EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) , EON (Taiwan OTC: 3411.TWO - news) , Npower, Scottish Power and SSE - have been at the centre of a string of mis-selling scandals and pricing rows.
The new chairman will succeed Lord Spicer, a former Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Energy during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
Lord Spicer was on the board of the Association of Electricity Producers before it was absorbed into Energy UK as part of efforts by the industry to promote a more co-ordinated approach to important issues.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has pledged to freeze retail prices for 20 months if he becomes Prime Minister, while Ofgem, the industry regulator, has referred the energy suppliers to the Competition and Markets Authority for a full investigation.
The CMA intends to publish its provisional findings and possible remedies by the end of June next year.
Sir David did have a spell as chairman of Severn Trent (Other OTC: STRNY - news) , the water company, and also chaired O2, the mobile phone group acquired by Spain's Telefonica in 2006, as well as Gordon Brown's Better Regulation Task Force.
Among his other boardroom roles have included chairing Aldermore, the challenger bank, and Numis, the stockbroker.
He now sits on the boards of Pearson (Xetra: 858266 - news) , the owner of the Financial Times, Telefonica and Hassium Asset Management.
Neither Sir David nor Energy UK could be reached for comment on Sunday.
MWM Consulting, the headhunter leading the appointment process, declined to comment.
