Eigen Values Enhancements

Improvements to rewards for paid subscribers and adding new founding member option.

Thank you!

I originally started this Substack as a retirement project to keep my brain active and to provide a public service exposing inconsistencies and untruths across a range of policy areas. I never really got chance to move out of the Net Zero and energy policy space, simply because energy is so big, current policy is so bad and most mainstream commentary is woeful.

Now more than two years on, I am pleasantly surprised to have over 4,100 subscribers. I am extremely grateful to the 100+ paid subscribers who provide some financial reward for the effort it takes to produce at least one article each week. This loyalty now means Eigen Values is classified as a “bestseller” on the Substack platform. We now have a publishing streak of over 100 weeks, putting Eigen Values in the top 1% of publications.

There are Parliamentarians from both Houses and some of their staffers who subscribe. In addition, there are industry professionals, journalists, analysts and people from the financial community. Sometimes I am sought out by various parts of what we might term the alt-media and others for commentary on Net Zero and energy policy. I have also been approached to provide bespoke analysis on various parts of the energy market. It is beginning to feel like the tide of public opinion is starting to turn on Net Zero and it is reasonable to say Eigen Values has played a part in that change. All this has taken more effort than I expected, but I am enjoying the experience.

Extending Reach

However, if I look at the demographic data for the Substack and for my 8,000+ followers on Twitter/X, my audience is overwhelmingly male and mostly over 45. As Net Zero policies continue to increase the damage to the economy and the social fabric of the nation, it is time to try and attract a younger, more gender balanced audience and convince them to turn against Net Zero policies too. To do that I need to produce content that works on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. That is out of my skillset and comfort zone, so to do that I would need to hire someone to help me.

To do this I need to make Eigen Values a little more commercial. I want to preserve the original values of providing a free-to-view public service so the content can be widely viewed and shared. However, there are ways to increase the financial returns from Eigen Values and use some of that increase to finance entry on to new platforms and increase the value offered to paying subscribers.

Eigen Values Enhancements

To that end, I have made some enhancements to the way this Substack works. First, I have enabled the Founding Members tier meaning those who really appreciate my work have the option of paying a little more for it. Second, I have activated the Substack Chat and Direct Message functions, but they are only open to Paid Subscribers and Founding Members giving clear benefits to the most loyal subscribers.

Third, I have created a new section to the online Substack called Data which gives links to a new Eigen Values data store on a separate website where the underlying data supporting some of the articles can be purchased.

Paid Subscribers and Founding Members can also access exclusive discounts on the products as a reward for their loyalty using the discount codes in special posts in the Data section.

To begin with the data store is small, containing data on Contracts for Difference (CfD) and Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs) for Onshore and Offshore Wind. The CfD dataset analyses generation, strike prices, reference prices and subsidies for each technology type. In addition, the capacity data has been added for each generation unit meaning load factors can be analysed too. The ROC data extends back into the past further than is now available on Ofgem’s new Renewable Energy Register, meaning there is more insight available from this dataset than from official channels. In addition, the approximate value of the ROC subsidies is calculated using the Ofgem buyout value for each financial year.

I have some interesting analysis planned on the long-term performance of wind and solar and the data store will be expanded to include these items, hopefully becoming the leading site for data analysing the performance of renewables in the UK.

I am also making myself available to conduct bespoke analysis of the energy market outside of the listed products.

I do hope you find these developments interesting and helpful. I would welcome your feedback in the comments below.

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