‘The U.K. has a competitiveness deficit in its energy costs—that’s a real call to action,’ says EDF U.K. chair

Sir Alex Chisolm has been U.K, chair of EDF for more than two years, but he is still awestruck by the power on display when visiting any one of the company’s eight nuclear power stations.

At Sizewell, which is currently home to Sizewell B, the U.K.’s largest operational nuclear site, he says: “You can stand on the bridge there and feel, wow, this is how we actually make this. This is the room with the magic that’s powering 1.2 million homes, and you’re going to see these giant machines going around amazingly fast. You think, well, that is power.”

Chisholm stepped down as permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office in 2024 and currently serves as a non-executive director at BT and senior adviser to Boston Consulting Group, in addition to his EDF role. Transitioning from the world of politics and returning to the private sector has been a welcome change of pace.

“It’s good for people like me who spent probably a bit too much time hanging around Whitehall offices to get out to sites where the real work is done by people to power the nation,” Chisholm says.

EDF, a French state-owned energy company, sits at 15th on the latest Fortune 500 Europe rankingsand recorded profits of €8.4 billion ($9.7 billion) for the 2025 financial year. 

Chisholm first developed an interest in the energy sector while at the Competition and Markets Authority, which was overseeing an energy market review when he was chief executive of the regulator. He also served as head of the business and energy department for four years and says he found the sector “absolutely fascinating.”

“The energy sector is so important to the way people lead their lives, to our business competitiveness, and all the changes happening with the development of AI,” he adds. “So I thought that was a very worthwhile challenge to throw myself into.”

Rising energy costs ‘put brakes’ on growth

Energy companies and the U.K. government are currently facing pressure to help bring business energy costs down. Gas and electricity costs for businesses have increased by 25% since February, according to industry research firm Cornwall Insight, largely as a result of conflict in the Middle East.

The Confederation of British Industry has warned that persistently high energy prices threaten the U.K.’s global competitiveness and risk “putting the brakes on the country’s growth ambitions.”

Chisholm believes that the government should be prioritizing reducing energy costs for both businesses and consumers. EDF was among a group of 120 organizations that called for “hidden taxes”, including levies for renewable projects, to be scrapped from energy bills.

Chisholm says: “The U.K. has a competitiveness deficit now in its energy costs—that is a real call to action. We’re now nearly one and a half times more expensive [than the rest of Europe] for industrial users of electricity, and that is not a position we can continue to tolerate.”

Chisholm regards nuclear power as another key part of the answer. “Nuclear is a very important solution, both for the planet, but also for energy security and supply,” he says.

EDF is currently involved in the construction of two new nuclear facilities in the U.K. Hinkley Point C is majority owned by EDF and it is estimated it will be capable of powering 6 million homes when it comes online in 2031. EDF also owns a 12.5% stake in Sizewell C which is set to become operational in the “mid to late 2030s.”

The two nuclear plants will be the first to have been built in the U.K. since the 1990s and are a key part of the government’s plan to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The regulatory burden

However, both projects have been beset by delays. Hinkley Point C was originally scheduled to come online by 2025 and had an initial projected cost of £18 billion ($24.26 billion)—this has now doubled.

Sizewell C also risks falling behind schedule after construction of two key access roads to the site were delayed.

Chisholm believes many of the challenges faced in the construction of EDF’s latest facilities are typical of those faced by large infrastructure projects in the U.K. “Although the plant that we’re building is based on technology called the European pressurized reactor—which was designed for the European market and has already been built in France at Flamanville and in Finland at Olkiluoto—U.K. regulatory bodies here had their own specific requirements,” he says.

A 55,000-page development consent order (almost 40-times the length of War and Peace) was required to secure planning approval for Hinkley Point C. The public body Natural England also advised EDF to design and install a ‘fish disco’—an underwater acoustic deterrent to prevent marine life from swimming into the cooling pipes that feed the nuclear plant’s turbines.

“We spent almost a billion pounds on changes to the plant, which relate to reducing the impact on fish,” Chisholm says. “We all love fish but you could have achieved a lot more for fish numbers and welfare at a much lower cost than that.”

“I understand and respect environmental standards and nuclear safety,” he adds. “The question is, how much is enough?” Chisholm claims that the current regulatory process leads people “unwillingly” to develop rules that “make no sense”. 

The Fingleton Review of nuclear regulations recommended a more balanced approach to environmental protection and was adopted in full earlier this year after John Fingleton, who led the review, said Hinkley Point C had “more fish protection measures than any other power station in the world.”

The proposals aim to speed up the planning process for new nuclear projects by reforming environmental impact assessments but have been criticized by wildlife charities and environmental organizations for representing a false choice between nature protection and development. 

However, Chisholm is a fan of the Fingletonian approach and believes it could have benefits beyond the energy sector and in the wider economy. “If it was easier to get things built in this country, if it was easier to get things done, then we would all be better off,” he says. “It would make Britain the best country in the world to do business.”

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