The government argument goes that wholesale electricity is only so dear because the price reflects the gas price. This is very misleading.
Reliance on imports and integration into the European gas market means we will now always be price takers. That is a problem in this tough new world. It means energy – which is really much more about politics than market forces – can be used to hit us.
Conservative and target voters clearly think tackling climate change is important, but are worried about the pace and cost of Labour’s plans. The dividing line should not be about tackling climate change, but the process.
Sooner or later the impact of ever higher energy prices will turn into an explosive political issue for Labour, as it has for other Governments in Europe.
As of 2023, Britain imported 38 per cent of its energy needs – a strategic vulnerability that demands serious consideration.
The claim that renewables are cheaper than gas or nuclear is an accounting fiction, sustained only by arbitrarily exempting a vast range of their costs from the calculations. We deserve better from our institutions.
For years, we have heard that tackling emissions is our key priority. In reality, we need to constantly balance a complex energy trilemma of emissions, energy security, and consumer bills.
The grid remains heavily reliant on gas, but the Government is suggesting that we can somehow move by 2030 to dependence on renewables and nuclear, with any fossil fuel use countered by CCS.
It a winning combination: an increasingly cost-effective way to generate clean energy, simultaneously cutting household bills and making supply-side progress towards Net Zero that doesn’t squeeze living standards.
The time has come for all politicians to be honest with voters: building an electricity system reliant primarily on wind and solar energy is neither feasible nor affordable.
Last week was a critical turning point in the debate on Net Zero. Both the main political parties now need to be honest with voters and declare that the entire project and in particular electricity decarbonisation need an urgent re-think.
Our generating capacity and National Grid infrastructure are nowhere near ready for a full transition away from fossil fuels, and the political price of forcing lower living standards on voters will be very steep indeed.
I believe firmly that it is in our environmental, economic, moral, and – yes – political interests as Conservatives to make sure we lead on this issue rather than talk it down. We shouldn’t be coy about putting forward this positive vision.
Shifting heating and transport to electric devices only disguises emissions unless they are powered by a clean grid – and even if not, the extra demand on the system will require vast amounts of new cables and pylons.
Achieving energy security and affordable bills does not have to be mutually exclusive with growing our offshore wind sector.