Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of standing charges for electric vehicle chargers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The setting of standing charges is a commercial matter for suppliers, and suppliers have the flexibility in how they structure their tariffs. Ofgem regulates standing charges, as they do with other elements of billing.
The Government is pleased that Ofgem is considering the issue of standing charges through their recent Call for Input and looks forward to hearing its findings and future proposals. The Government expects bills to be fair and affordable for all consumers (including for electric vehicle charging), that standing charges are kept as low as possible, and that the right costs are recovered.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he has taken with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure that the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 delivers more offshore wind capacity than Allocation Round 5.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 6 March 2024, the Government confirmed over £1 billion of budget will be available in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 auction, including £800 million allocated to offshore wind. This followed the announcement in November that the administrative strike
prices for fixed and floating offshore wind had been increased by 66% and over 50% respectively, since the previous allocation round. This budget announcement makes this the largest round yet, with four times more budget available to offshore wind than in the previous round.