Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amber Rudd and Douglas Carswell

Thursday 7th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I am aware that GLOBE International is one of the largest forums for parliamentary engagement devoted to legislative leadership on sustainable development and climate change, and I recognise my hon. Friend’s important role in chairing it. I would, of course, be delighted to meet him to discuss how we can further promote parliamentarian international engagement on this important subject.

[Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)]

T5. I was absolutely delighted when the Minister said in June, at a renewable energy summit, that we were going to remove subsidies. When does she expect onshore and offshore wind subsidies to have disappeared completely?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amber Rudd and Douglas Carswell

Thursday 5th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

Solar is an essential part of the renewable energy mix; the hon. Gentleman is entirely right. We continue to look at this under the community energy strategy, and hope to develop plans to help deliver the sorts of projects he mentioned.

[Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)]

6. What estimate he has made of the proportion of electricity consumption that will be sourced from wind by 2017.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)]

Electricity consumed in the UK comes from a range of sources. In 2013, 35% came from coal, 27% from gas, 18% from nuclear and 15% from renewables, including wind generation. The “Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan”, published in December 2013, stated our aim of achieving total UK renewable deployment of around 43 GW by 2020, which would generate about 109 TWh.

[Douglas Carswell]

Given that the Minister cannot possibly know how windy it will be in 2017—there are huge variations in these things—or the relative price of different methods of energy generation this year, let alone in 2017, why not scrap the wind subsidies to the big corporations and allow energy producers to compete freely and produce energy at a price householders are willing to pay? Surely that would give people a much better deal.

[Amber Rudd]

Wind is an essential part of the renewables mix. I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s point that it is not 100% reliable—the wind does not always blow—but that is why it is part of the energy mix and is supported by other energy sources. We are continuing as a Department to invest in the battery industry and we hope that when that industry develops we will be able to find wind more reliable, with the subsidies coming down accordingly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amber Rudd and Douglas Carswell

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)]

1. What steps his Department plans to take to reduce the overall subsidy to UK energy sources.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)]

The Government recognise the hon. Gentlemen’s point regarding the impact on taxpayers and consumers of Government support for renewable and low-carbon energy. However, Government policies are also aimed at reducing bills. Without Government policies, particularly on energy efficiency, bills would overall be on average around £90 higher this year.

[Douglas Carswell]

Yesterday the Prime Minister confirmed that he is happy to see the levy control framework increase to £371 per year per household by 2020. At a time of falling oil prices and at a time when the shale gas revolution holds out the tantalising prospect of cheap energy, is not the Department carrying on subsidising windmills unnecessarily, and are we not making policy on the basis of outdated assumptions that need to revised?

[Amber Rudd]

We recognise the importance of keeping bills down for consumers, particularly when times are difficult, but this Government’s initiatives are to help reduce bills and our support for renewables is unquestionable. We feel it is essential to have some subsidy to get renewables going. I note that the hon. Gentleman is a big supporter of solar. Those costs have come down and our support has consequently come down. We expect it to reach grid parity by 2020. We are optimistic that wind farms are also beginning to come down in cost, and we have seen a 10% reduction in the support for them very recently.