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HANSARDKing’s Speech (4th Day)My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Vallance, to the Dispatch Box and congratulate him on his maiden speech. Almost all of us have made a maiden speech in this House and some…22 Jul 2024HANSARDKing’s Speech (4th Day)My Lords, let me to this unusually full gracious Speech—bulging, we might almost call it—which contained a great many measures. Your Lordships are going to be kept very busy…22 Jul 2024HANSARDKing’s Speech (4th Day)—about worthwhile reforms and I am delighted to see the audit reform and corporate governance Bill in the gracious Speech. I oversaw a development of these proposals when I was a…22 Jul 2024HANSARDEnergy Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her support. This is, as she said, a technical instrument. In fact, it might save the consumers money, which is one reason we…24 May 2024HANSARDEnergy Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 13 May be approved.24 May 2024HANSARDEnergy Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024My Lords, this instrument is technical in nature. It uses the power in Section 330 of the Energy Act 2023 to make various amendments as a consequence of the passing of that Act.…24 May 2024HANSARDContracts for Difference (Sustainable Industry Rewards) Regulations 2024That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 21 March and 15 April be approved. Relevant document: 21st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered…21 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessThe costs that I quoted are what are called the levelised costs, which are an industry standard, and they take account of other system costs. But, as I said, we will of course…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessThe noble Lord makes an important point. Actually, relatively few components are manufactured in China, although some are. Many of them are manufactured in other parts of Europe,…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessMy Lords, I am happy to acknowledge the noble Baroness’s point, but, if she is attempting to say that other forms of generation—gas-fired power plants, nuclear power plants or…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessI certainly agree that the Opposition’s policy is fantasy politics. However, I will give the noble Lord the costs in the latest published analysis, which show that electricity…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessWe already have considered estimates—work on this is going on all the time. It is a constantly evolving picture, and we take into account the views of all experts. It is…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessMy Lords, offshore wind is one of the cheapest generating technologies in the UK and is comparable to or cheaper in cost than fossil-fuel based alternatives. It is a vital…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessThere is already some wind generation, but of course the waters are deeper, which is one reason why we are developing floating offshore wind, which I referred to earlier.16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessThe noble Lord is right and wrong at the same time. Of course, it makes absolute sense to build more nuclear power, and we are doing that. However, his reference to the last…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessWe have allocated over £1 billion for AR6, and it is important to procure newer capacity. It is also worth saying that we cannot rely on offshore wind alone: we need to consider…16 May 2024HANSARDElectricity: Cost-competitivenessMy Lords, we are already a leader in the offshore wind sector: we had the largest amount of offshore wind production in the world, although we have now been overtaken by China. We…16 May 2024HANSARDPrepayment MetersOf course, if the customer is not in debt, it is their choice whether to have a prepayment meter. There are circumstances in which prepayment meters are fitted involuntarily—the…14 May 2024HANSARDHydrogen EnergyI am sorry to disagree with the noble Baroness, but we are taking action. We let the first 11 hydrogen electrolytic allocation contracts in what is called the HAR1 round last…14 May 2024HANSARDHydrogen EnergyIt is me again, I am afraid. We have decided not to progress work on a hydrogen town pilot until after a decision in 2026 on any potential role for hydrogen in heating. The…14 May 2024