Zonal electricity pricing is dead. Now we need some pragmatism about hitting net zero targets

The chief executive of energy regulator Ofgem, Jonathan Brearley, backed zonal pricing.

- Nils Pratley

Fintan Slye, head of Neso, the National Energy System Operator, also supported the scheme that could have seen different parts of Great Britain charged different rates for their electricity. Chris Stark, the head of the "mission control" unit in Ed Miliband's energy department, declared himself "zonal curious".

But it's not going to happen. After intensive lobbying from both sides of the philosophical divide in energy-land, Miliband has killed the zonal option.

The policy wonks are now obliged to go back to fiddling with internal network charges - the fees paid by generators to access the transmission network.

They will calculate the sweet spots that encourage more renewable generation where it's most needed while not stifling it completely where, for example, it is windy. That means yet more rounds of consultation.

In the meantime, the maddening "constraint costs" will mount up. These include payments to windfarms (usually in Scotland) to turn off when it's too windy because the local grid would be overloaded, plus those made to other generators (usually gas-fired plants in the south) to fire up.