Since the last oral question time for the Department, the spending review announced the largest investment in clean energy in our country’s history—investment in new nuclear; in carbon, capture and storage; and in hydrogen transport and storage. We are investing £8.3 billion through Great British Energy and £13.2 billion in our warm homes plan for energy security, lower bills and good jobs.
Evidence from the National Grid, Ofgem and Imperial College London shows that locational or zonal pricing would save billions of pounds a year, lower bills and reduce the need for expensive and often unpopular grid infrastructure. Why has the Secretary of State ruled it out?
I made a comprehensive statement to the House on this last Thursday, and the grounds for the decision are these: first, there is the question of fairness, and secondly, there is the question of the cost of the transition and what would happen in the meantime. We need investment in our clean energy infrastructure, and we need investment in growth. I believe that our way—reformed national pricing—is the right way forward.
T3. In the fight for energy security, every area of our country must play its part, but that means energy infrastructure projects should be distributed evenly. What is the Department doing to ensure that no community will be asked to do more than its fair share?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. That is why the strategic spatial energy plan will set out where we need our energy infrastructure, so that we can have a planned system that matches power needs and infrastructure at least cost to bill payers and taxpayers.
Yesterday, the Secretary of State said I was hiding when I was, in fact, with my six-month-old baby, who I know he is aware of. On behalf of all young mums who face those kinds of comments in their first few weeks back at work, may I gently suggest he reflects on those remarks?
I want to ask the Secretary of State a very simple question: is £82 higher or lower than £72?
On the first point, I completely respect the right hon. Lady’s decision to be with her young baby, and there was no offence intended. I think it is very important that we understand the needs of new parents and, indeed, parents across the country. On the question she asked, I do not know what she is getting at, frankly.
I do not know whether the Secretary of State does not know or does not want to say, but £72 a megawatt-hour is what electricity cost last year, and £82 is the price he has paid for offshore wind, and he is set to do the same this year—and that is before the extra costs for the grid for wasted wind and back-up, which are going through the roof, thanks to his policies. Yesterday, he committed to radical honesty. In that spirit, will he admit either that he cannot add up, or that his policies cannot bring down bills?
I am going to be radically honest and tell the right hon. Lady the truth: she is gambling on fossil fuels—the same thing she did that led us to the worst cost of living crisis in our country’s history, with family finances, businesses’ finances and public finances wrecked. The only way to bring down bills for good is through cheap, home-grown power that we control. We have an energy security plan. The Conservatives have an energy surrender plan.
T4. What ambitions does the Department have for sectors and technologies that GB Energy will prioritise, since the chief operating officer has said that he wants to evolve it into a major energy company, and what might that mean for job creation, including in constituencies like mine?
GB Energy will prioritise a whole range of projects, and that is a matter for GB Energy, as a publicly owned energy company at arm’s length from Government, but there are huge opportunities right across our country, whether in floating wind, tidal, hydrogen or offshore wind and supply chains. GB Energy is owned by the public and will benefit people right across Britain.
Across Europe, we have already seen 2,300 heatwave-related deaths—avoidable deaths—and the Met Office report says that things will just get worse. The Lib Dems and I have a really cool idea. Will the Secretary of State work with local authorities to open up public spaces with air conditioning, such as leisure centres and libraries, so that they can provide relief from extreme heat for the elderly and vulnerable?
There is no monopoly on good ideas, and the hon. Lady raises the important issue of how we adapt as a country to the climate crisis. We know we have a lot more to do, and we will listen to all good ideas.
T5. In my constituency I am proud that we have the first example in the country of a high-energy use craft that has transitioned fully to renewables, having worked with a UK manufacturer to create a super-efficient electric furnace. Will the Secretary of State come to Stourbridge and visit Allister Malcolm Glass at the Stourbridge Glass Museum with me, to highlight it as an example for others to follow, and protect high-energy use heritage crafts across the country?
My hon. Friend raises a great example, and I will take a risk and say yes, I will come to Stourbridge. I love Stourbridge, and I look forward to seeing that project.
T2. The Government’s new Scope 3 guidance for offshore projects is hugely welcome. We are already battling deadly heatwaves and overshooting climate limits, so it is critical that we stop extracting new oil and gas. Given that there is no scenario in which Rosebank, or indeed any new oil and gas wells are compatible with limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C, why are the Government trying to delay recognition of that climate reality by saying that applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis? Will the Minister give us a conclusive science-backed answer now, and confirm that Rosebank will not be going ahead?