Energy Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-01-18
Topic: Energy
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy). I know his area well, and I agree with some of the things he said. Few people would oppose a new regulatory body for our oil and gas industry in the North sea. One of my first jobs was on a tanker in the North sea, and I remember that the highly regulated Norwegian sector seemed to be growing in leaps and bounds, so I do not see regulation as a huge hindrance for the British sector. Similarly, nobody could disagree with maximising economic recovery, as the Government say they are doing through the Bill However, high energy prices are hurting our industry. Given the announcements we have heard today on the steel industry and the situation facing colleagues in Port Talbot, it is worth reflecting on some of the things that the Secretary of State said. She said that the Government were cutting back on the cost of energy. Actually, they are just fixing the mess they made in 2011, because it was this Government who brought in the carbon price floor that hampered many of our energy-intensive industries. That was an Osborne tax made by this Government, and it has caused the problems we see today. I do not want to dwell on that; I just want to see a little consistency from the Government and a clear path I represent a constituency that has plans for new nuclear and for a biomass plant and that has potential for tidal energy. Indeed, it has been dubbed the "energy island." I believe that it is a microcosm for UK policy. However, we must have that energy mix if we are to have a sensible policy for the future. If businesses are to invest, we need the continuity and stability that they are crying out for. I have said on a number of occasions in this House that I am pro-nuclear, pro-renewables and pro-energy efficiency, and I see no contradiction in that, because in order to get the balance right we need the full suite of technologies available for the future I believe that the Government have missed many opportunities in this Bill. I will deal briefly with part 4. I agree that local communities should not be ridden over roughshod when it comes to planning applications by developers. I think that is sensible. However, I think that the Government have their sights on the wrong targets when they talk about reducing bills by cutting so-called green taxes, because the biggest contribution to bills after oil and gas prices are transmission and distribution. There is nothing in this Bill, or in this Government’s energy policy, to deal with that. Twenty-five per cent. of household bills and business bills are for distribution and transmission costs, and yet—we hear talk about "the market delivering"—we have district monopolies in distribution and a national monopoly in transmission. National Grid does not act in the national interest: it acts in the interest of the shareholders of National Grid. That is wrong. In the previous Parliament, the Energy Act 2013 gave extra powers to National Grid by making it the systems operator so that it decides where new builds are going to happen and then provides the transmission in a non-competitive way. The Government need to look at that if they are serious about giving value to money to customers rather than fiddling around with the green areas that have been agreed just to get headlines in the Tory newspapers, as with onshore wind There was early onshore wind capacity in my area, but it has now grown to a stage where we need to build more. I agree with the Government on that. There used to be consensus on these policies. When my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) was Secretary of State, and then the coalition Government came in and Charles Hendry was Energy Minister, there was continuity on policies. That has been lost, and we now have a very piecemeal energy policy that many people believe—I think they are right to say this—has been driven by the Treasury. We have had the Osborne tax and the hands-on approach, and DECC officials and Ministers do not have the leeway to develop a coherent energy policy. This Bill was an opportunity for us to have a coherent energy policy on which to move forward I welcome the Government’s talk about nuclear new build, because my constituency will benefit from it. A fortnight ago, I went to the closure of Wylfa A in my constituency. Over 44 years of generation, high-quality jobs were provided. Few people in few industries could say that they have jobs for life, but nuclear provides that. We therefore need this long-term base-load, and I very much welcome it. The Wylfa Newydd—New Wylfa—project in my constituency started in 2007-08; it is taking a long time. That is why we need renewables facilities that can be built without these long lead times, to provide the necessary balance. We need flexibility in generation because in a warm winter or a hot summer technologies have to be switched off. Onshore wind provides that flexibility in many ways, as does offshore wind. I saw that in operation when I was a member of the DECC Committee. We visited wind farms that are switched off in the summer so that essential maintenance can be done. A nuclear power station will not be switched off because it cannot be brought back on without adding extra costs. We need this flexibility, and this Bill does not in any way provide that The Government talk about honouring a commitment, but I am afraid they have form on that. When solar power was immediately switched off, just like that, there was a real impact on jobs in the creative industries as well as in the solar industry itself. We saw jobs lost in Wrexham and inward investment stop because of that policy. Yes, we need to taper off solar, and the previous Labour Government had a policy to do that, but the manner in which this Government did it impacted negatively on business. I fear that the same thing will happen with wind power. Many of the companies that have invested in wind power have broad portfolios with not just wind power but gas and various other energy mixes, and they are worried about which sector is next. They want stability, and this Government are not providing it. The Bill is a missed opportunity. We need to get back to a coherent energy policy with a consensus whereby we plan for 30 to 40 years, not for five-year electoral cycles.