Labour is focusing
today on its plans to set up a public energy firm called Great British Energy. It’s part of their big
plan to increase the amount of clean energy in the UK – and improve domestic
energy security.Their press release
says: “Labour pledges that Great British Energy will cut energy bills for
good, as families face threat of £900 annual energy price spikes under
Tories.”Let’s deal with Labour’s
claims about the Conservatives first. The figure is an unlikely
one. It’s based on a similar price shock like the one we saw after
Russia invaded Ukraine. That was not normal. It seems unlikely that there
will be another spike of the same magnitude soon – it’s definitely not
something you could assume is going to happen.The broader point Labour
is making is that the UK is vulnerable to changes in global gas
prices. That’s a legitimate argument – the Office for Budget Responsibility has made a similar point in the past about gas prices causing more of a price
shock in the UK than many other countries.Labour meanwhile is
claiming it will reduce bills by £300 for families.I asked Labour how they
arrived at the figure and they pointed to research by think tank Ember.It concluded the UK
could generate 98% of electricity from clean sources – and that would mean
significant savings in bills. Labour accepted that target when I put it to
them.That’s a big increase
from just now – low carbon electricity was 61.5% of UK generation in 2023.It would require a lot
of investment in infrastructure for renewable energy.It would take time
and money – Labour are looking towards the end of a five year parliament for
the reduction in bills …
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today on its plans to set up a public energy firm called Great British Energy. It’s part of their big
plan to increase the amount of clean energy in the UK – and improve domestic
energy security.Their press release
says: “Labour pledges that Great British Energy will cut energy bills for
good, as families face threat of £900 annual energy price spikes under
Tories.”Let’s deal with Labour’s
claims about the Conservatives first. The figure is an unlikely
one. It’s based on a similar price shock like the one we saw after
Russia invaded Ukraine. That was not normal. It seems unlikely that there
will be another spike of the same magnitude soon – it’s definitely not
something you could assume is going to happen.The broader point Labour
is making is that the UK is vulnerable to changes in global gas
prices. That’s a legitimate argument – the Office for Budget Responsibility has made a similar point in the past about gas prices causing more of a price
shock in the UK than many other countries.Labour meanwhile is
claiming it will reduce bills by £300 for families.I asked Labour how they
arrived at the figure and they pointed to research by think tank Ember.It concluded the UK
could generate 98% of electricity from clean sources – and that would mean
significant savings in bills. Labour accepted that target when I put it to
them.That’s a big increase
from just now – low carbon electricity was 61.5% of UK generation in 2023.It would require a lot
of investment in infrastructure for renewable energy.It would take time
and money – Labour are looking towards the end of a five year parliament for
the reduction in bills …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]