Power Struggle: Delivering Great Britain’s Electricity Grid Infrastructure (Industry and Regulators Committee Report)

Lord Offord of Garvel Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the members of the committee for taking part in today’s debate and pay tribute to the committee for its report. As noble Lords across the committee know, the Government’s unilateral clean power 2030 target is putting extreme pressure on the electricity system. Let us remind ourselves that it currently draws two-thirds from hydrocarbons and one-third from renewables. The objective within five years is to make that 95% renewables and 5% hydrocarbons. That is a very ambitious target and will require huge investment, as we have heard today, and will inevitably result in higher energy prices for consumers and businesses.

The Government admitted in a Written Statement published yesterday in relation to the network charging compensation scheme that they were requiring to put an uplift through because:

“Some of these businesses currently pay the highest industrial electricity prices in the G7, making it harder to stay competitive on the international stage”.


Those are the Government’s own words. That is the challenge we face and a source of the imperative for the cheap energy we urgently need to deliver policies that cut energy prices in the UK.

Cheap energy, as the Government rightly say, is essential to competitiveness and ultimately the key to growth. What households and businesses need from this Government is a commitment to bring down the cost of energy. Yet, despite that need, the sector has been clear that energy bills are likely to rise by 20% in the next four years. Typical household energy prices under the price cap are now £1,755 a year for the average dual-fuel consumer.

Turning to the committee’s report, it is right to highlight that the Government’s current approach will require a huge investment in our grid capacity. Quite simply, can the Minister please clarify what the Government’s forecast is of what these costs will be? How will this impact consumer bills? What impact will this investment have on the cost of doing business in the UK? Can the Minister please confirm what assessment the Government have made of other approaches which could deliver plainer, cheaper and more reliable energy where we need it, without it needing to be transported long distances across the country?