Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Solloway]

Standing charges, as I mentioned, are a matter for Ofgem. However, Ofgem has listened to public sentiment, and it has recently launched a call for input on standing charges. My understanding is that to date, it has had over 40,000 responses. The call for input closed on 19 January, and Ofgem’s paper aims to ensure a greater understanding of how standing charges are applied to energy bills and what alternatives should be considered.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

7. What steps she is taking to help increase private sector investment in green technologies.

[Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)]

16. What steps she is taking to help increase private sector investment in green technologies.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Claire Coutinho)]

The UK has already made tremendous progress in securing investment in green technologies; recent figures indicate that there was £60 billion of investment in the UK in 2023, meaning that since 2010, the UK has had £300 billion of public and private investment in low-carbon sectors. Since I took office in September, we have put in place new policies and signed deals with different countries, and the investment has continued to flow, with plans for around £24 billion of new investment in low-carbon sectors announced by the private sector.

[Andrew Jones]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Harmony Energy based in Knaresborough opened Europe’s largest battery farm in Yorkshire in 2022. It has raised the issue of connectivity challenges being a blockage to investment, so I welcome the connections action plan, which aims to cut connection times by up to 90%. Battery farms are critical for energy retention and storage, and are particularly helpful for renewables, so may I ask my right hon. Friend for an update on how the plan is being implemented?

[Claire Coutinho]

We have set out the most radical reforms to the grid since the 1950s. As the action plan sets out, we are taking action with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate those really important network connections. Network companies are offering earlier connection to battery storage and generation projects. For example, 10 GW of battery storage projects are already being offered connection dates to the transmission network that are on average four years earlier than was originally agreed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Stuart]

The Government are doing the right thing, have done the right thing and will continue to do the right thing in coming to a fair settlement between miners, the Government and the taxpayer. That is what we will continue to do, and I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss it further.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

T5. Earlier this month, the all-party parliamentary group on infrastructure, which I chair, launched a joint report with the Institution of Civil Engineers on the public behavioural changes needed to achieve our net zero target. I have sent my right hon. Friend a copy of the report. As part of its production, we carried out market research, which highlighted public uncertainty on where to go for accurate information to help people make the choices required to decarbonise their lives. What is the Department doing to help fill that information gap?

[Graham Stuart]

Of course, my hon. Friend has a highly distinguished history in the marketing industry. We agree that it is important that the public get the information they need to save money on their bills, as we set out in the net zero growth plan. That is why last autumn we relaunched the “It All Adds Up” campaign, which helped British households save an estimated £120 million last winter. Whether it is elf on the shelf or other such routes, we will find ways to better communicate with the public, precisely to allow them to be well informed in doing their bit for net zero.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 4th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I will, with the hon. Gentleman’s permission, arrange to write back to him in a more detailed structure, given that the development is actually in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie).

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Unlocking access to the grid will unlock significant private sector capital ready to come in for microgeneration of battery storage projects. Can my hon. Friend give me an update on the timing for the Winser review and the Government’s response to it?

[Andrew Bowie]

The Government have received Nick Winser’s review and it will be published imminently.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bowie]

I am very happy to give the hon. Member that assurance. We are doing everything we can, working with Ofgem, companies, providers and other organisations, to ensure that the grid across the United Kingdom, but in particular in rural locations, where there will be a huge surge in demand, is able to cope and that people have fair and equitable access to that.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

A few weeks ago, Knaresborough-based Harmony Energy opened the largest battery farm in Europe. What steps are being taken to allow grid capacity and connections for renewables and storage to be made much more quickly, so that projects such as Harmony’s can come on stream, deliver energy resilience and cut carbon emissions?

[Andrew Bowie]

We will jointly publish a connections action plan with Ofgem in the summer, setting out actions by the Government, Ofgem and industry to accelerate connections and reform queue management systems. Network companies are already taking steps to free up network capacity and bring forward connections via shovel-ready renewable and storage projects, ahead of slower moving ones.