Tag Archives: Ed Davey

Energy Bill to create ‘low carbon economy’, says Davey

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Energy minister Ed Davey has unveiled the government’s much-trailed Energy Bill, setting out the roadmap for the UK’s switch to “a low-carbon economy”.

Energy companies will increase the amount they levy consumers from £3bn to £7.6bn a year by 2020, potentially increasing household bills by £100.

But big, energy-intensive companies will be exempt from the extra costs of the switch to renewable energy.

The “transformation” will cost the UK £110bn over ten years, Mr Davey said.

He told MPs: “Britain’s energy sector is embarking on a period of exceptional renewal and expansion.

“The scale of the investment required is huge, representing close to half the UK’s total infrastructure investment pipeline.”

The government’s plan formed the “biggest transformation of Britain’s electricity market since privatisation,” he said.

The Energy Bill aims to move the UK’s energy production from a dependence on fossil fuels to a more diverse mix of energy sources, such as wind, nuclear and biomass.

This is to fill the energy gap that will from closing a number of coal and nuclear power stations over the next two decades, and to meet the government’s carbon dioxide emissions targets.

Mr Davey said government policy was “designed specifically to reduce consumer bills”, arguing that without a move to renewable energy, bills would be higher because of a reliance on expensive and volatile gas prices.

Exemptions

But in a statement published alongside the Bill, Mr Davey said energy-intensive industries, such as steel and cement producers, would be exempt from additional costs arising from measures to encourage investment in new low-carbon production.

“Decarbonisation should not mean deindustrialisation”, Mr Davey said.

“The transition to the low carbon economy will depend on products made by energy intensive industries – a wind turbine for example needing steel, cement and high-tech textiles.

“This exemption will ensure the UK retains the industrial capacity to support a low carbon economy.”

Without the exemption, the government fears big companies would cut jobs and relocate abroad.

Renewables key to UK recovery

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Renewable Energy Jobline

Newly-appointed energy secretary Edward Davey told graduates at the Building Research Establishment’s Innovation Park that renewable growth and jobs will remain key to the Coalition’s economic recovery strategy.

His priorities are simple: green jobs, green growth and getting the best deal for energy bill payers, he said.

At today’s Offshore Wind Developers’ Forum the wind industry confirmed its vision to provide over 50% of the content of future UK wind farms from domestic companies.

Davey said focusing on low carbon industries will make it possible to rebalance the economy and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

He said: “My department is already implementing bold and ambitious reforms – like electricity market reform and the Green Deal – to unlock private investment, drive innovation and build a resilient, green, competitive economy. It”s now my job to see those through.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (pictured) said: “The race is on to lead the world in clean, green energy.”

He added: “So the choice for the UK is simple: wake up, or end up playing catch up. In today’s world the savviest states understand that going for growth means going green.”

The energy and climate change secretary also announced that 155 community energy projects across the country have won a share of £5.1m from the Local Energy Assessment Fund.

The winning bids include projects demonstrating wall insulation to the public, schemes to check homes energy efficiency and events promoting efficiency in local communities.

Davey said: “The big national challenges of keeping the lights on and emissions down can be tackled in small ways in our homes and local communities. These grants are designed to nurture the ideas and enthusiasm of communities up and down the country who want to cut energy use, cut emissions and save money.”

Source: http://renews.biz/story.php?page_id=74&news_id=1358

Nuclear somersault: New Energy Secretary changes his tune and says he won’t block reactor plans

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Energy Secretary Ed Davey performed a spectacular U-turn on nuclear power last night – as he declared he would not block plans for a new generation of reactors.

Liberal Democrat Mr Davey was appointed to the Cabinet post on Friday after Chris Huhne resigned to fight criminal charges.

In the past, Mr Davey has condemned nuclear power as dangerous and expensive.

As Lib Dem trade and industry spokesman in 2006 Mr Davey was the architect of the party’s anti-nuclear policy.

He launched the policy with a press release entitled ‘Say no to nuclear’, which warned a new generation of nuclear power stations would cost taxpayers tens of billions of pounds.

At the time, Mr Davey said: ‘In addition to posing safety and environmental risks, nuclear power will only be possible with vast taxpayer subsidies or a rigged market.

‘It is an issue that crops up in my postbag time and again. People don’t want nuclear, but they don’t know what the alternatives are. Now they do, and the alternatives are cleaner, safer, greener and better for the environment and the taxpayer.’

Yesterday morning, he insisted he remained a ‘lifelong supporter of the green agenda’.

But in a statement last night, he said he would not disrupt the Coalition agreement, which commits to paving the way for a new generation of nuclear power stations.

New generation: Mr Davey said he would not block Government plans for new plants, which see sites such as Sizewell in Suffolk potentially have a third reactor built

He added: ‘There have been understandable concerns given the expensive mistakes made in the past which the taxpayer is still paying for. But the Coalition agreement is crystal clear – new nuclear can go ahead so long as it’s without subsidy.’

The U-turn came as Mr Davey batted away calls from Tory MPs to slash the £400million in taxpayer subsidies given each year to the ‘inefficient’ onshore wind farm industry.

More than 100 Conservative MPs wrote to David Cameron calling for the move. But Mr Davey said there was a ‘pretty compelling’ case for wind power as part of ‘a balanced mix of energy generation’.

Mr Davey said: ‘I’ve been a lifelong supporter of renewables and wind power and I’m not going to change now, I think onshore and offshore wind power has a real place in a balanced mix of energy generation.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097481/Ed-Davey-performs-U-turn-nuclear-power.html#ixzz1lg6T7wDl

Wind farm subsidy cut urged by MPs

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More than 100 Conservative MPs have written to the prime minister urging him to cut subsidies for wind turbines.

They also want planning rules changed to make it easier for local people to object to their construction.

The Tory MPs – joined by some backbenchers from other parties – questioned the amount of money going to the sector during “straitened times”.

But the government said wind farms were a “cost-effective and valuable part of the UK’s diverse energy mix”.

The challenge to the coalition’s policy presents an immediate problem for the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey. He was promoted to the job following the resignation of fellow Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne last Friday.

Lib Dem president Tim Farron told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that Mr Davey was a “very, very capable man” and an “outstanding environmentalist” who would take projects forward.

‘Straitened times’

The government wants renewable sources, such as wind, to provide 15% of the UK’s energy supply by 2015.

The wind farm revolt is the first test for the new Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

He’s already said he wants to follow Chris Huhne’s priorities, and wind power was certainly one of them.

For the 100-plus Conservative MPs who signed the letter, the politics of calling for a subsidy cut are understandable. Many are in rural constituencies where there’s plenty of local opposition to new turbines.

But the Liberal Democrats are under pressure to show that ambitious emissions targets aren’t going to be junked.

The signatories of this letter say they’re not anti-renewable, just concerned about the level of support for onshore wind energy.

This could develop as a tricky issue for the coalition.

It admits that this is “currently more costly” than using fossil fuels, with hundreds of millions of pounds spent on subsidising wind farms each year.

State help is being cut under plans set out by ministers last year, but MPs have demanded an acceleration.

“In these financially straitened times, we think it is unwise to make consumers pay, through taxpayer subsidy, for inefficient and intermittent energy production that typifies onshore wind turbines,” they wrote in the letter, seen by the Sunday Telegraph.

The politicians also expressed concerns that the proposed National Planning Policy Framework “diminishes the chances of local people defeating onshore wind farm proposals through the planning system”.

Organised by backbencher Chris Heaton-Harris, the letter’s 101 Tory signatories include senior figures such as David Davis, Bernard Jenkin and Nicholas Soames.

Another is Tory MP Matthew Hancock, a close ally of Chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Heaton-Harris said two Liberal Democrats, two Labour PMs and one Democratic Unionist were also among his backers.

‘Party divided’

BBC chief political correspondent Gary O’Donoghue said the signatories were not against renewable energy per se, but believe onshore wind got far too much money.

For Labour, shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint said: “Britain should be a world leader in wind energy. We need to put jobs, growth and reducing energy bills first, but David Cameron is failing to do this. We just get a Tory party divided amongst itself…

“If Tory MPs want to turn the clock back on renewable energy, it will be the public who pay the price through higher energy bills, as we become more reliant on volatile fossil fuel prices.”

But a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “We need a low-carbon infrastructure and onshore wind is a cost effective and valuable part of the UK’s diverse energy mix.”

She added: “We are committed to giving local communities the power to shape the spaces in which they live and are getting rid of regional targets introduced by the last government.

“The draft framework also aims to strengthen local decision making and reinforce the importance of local plans.”

Mr Huhne resigned as Energy and Climate Change Secretary on Friday after hearing he faced a charge of perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case, a claim he denies.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16893018