Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he will take steps to ensure that people who pay for utilities via a site manager will be able to access the energy bills support scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for St Albans on 20th June 2022 to Question 18990.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that people in supported accommodation who pay for utilities as part of their rent will receive the £400 payment through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands
Households without a domestic electricity supply contract are not eligible for the Scheme. The Government is exploring options for other ways in which they might receive similar support.
Landlords with a domestic electricity connection who charge ‘all inclusive’ rent, where a fixed cost for energy costs are included in their rental charges, should consider passing on the grant payments to tenants. Landlords who resell the electricity to their tenants based on energy usage may be required to comply with the maximum resale price rules.
Responses to the consultation are being analysed and the Government response will be published over the summer.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Department has made of the level of risk of exploding battery energy storage systems associated with solar panels.
Answered by Greg Hands
Electricity storage is a critical technology for ensuring security of supply and decarbonisation of the energy system. When installed, maintained and decommissioned correctly, electricity storage poses minimal risks. A robust health and safety regime is in place with appropriate provisions to ensure that battery storage at all scales can be operated safely in a range of environments. The government is currently working with the industry-led Storage Health and Safety Governance Group to establish common standards for product development and installation of domestic/small-scale battery storage and develop guidance for grid-scale storage.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2022 to Question 150169 on Energy: Standing Charges, what assessment he has made of whether the cost to suppliers of (a) service administration fees, (b) connections to and maintenance of energy networks and (c) Government schemes to help reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty has increased in the last 12 months.
Answered by Greg Hands
There are several reasons for the increase in standing charges. These can include increases to the Warm Homes Discount, the increase in renewable energy sources and changes to distribution costs.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 145873 on Energy: Standing Charges, whether maintenance on infrastructure accounts for a proportion of the rise in the standing charges.
Answered by Greg Hands
Standing charges are a daily fixed amount paid for the supplying of gas and electricity. It varies by region due to the different costs to transport power.
The charge pays for the costs that are fixed for a supplier on a per customer basis. Including service administration fees, connections to and maintenance of energy networks and Government schemes to help reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty. The standing charge is passed on to consumers as a flat rate per day rather than as a percentage charge based on how much energy they use.
More information can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the daily standing charge in energy usage, in the context of significant rises in consumption charges.
Answered by Greg Hands
The standing charge includes charges from network companies for using pipes and cables to carry gas and electricity supplies, the maintenance and installation of meters and billing and accounting. A small proportion also goes towards Government initiatives to help vulnerable households and reduce emissions.
Without the standing charge, these costs would be added to the unit price of energy. Otherwise, suppliers would not be able to recover the legitimate costs of serving customers.
For millions of households, the level of the standing charge is protected by the energy price cap rate set by Ofgem.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date the full criteria for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will be announced.
Answered by Greg Hands
The criteria for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme are specified in the Statutory Instrument which was laid in Parliament on the 24th February 2022:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348232349/contents.
Further information on the scheme can be found in Ofgem’s consultation on scheme administration, which closed on 27th January 2022:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/consultation-ofgems-administration-boiler-upgrade-scheme,
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timetable is for announcing the next funding settlement between the Government and the Post Office.
Answered by Paul Scully
A settlement letter is expected by the end of the financial year.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the National Grid has the capacity to manage a potential increase in demand for electricity as a result of the UK's transition to net zero.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department works closely with National Grid Electricity System Operator (NG:ESO) to ensure there is adequate capacity available to meet peak demand in a range of scenarios, now and in the future.
The Capacity Market (CM) is at the heart of the Government’s plans for a secure and reliable electricity system. Through the CM, the government secure, the capacity needed to ensure security of supply through a competitive, technology-neutral auction process. The volume of capacity the government procures is based on advice from NG:ESO in the annual Electricity Capacity Report. NG:ESO model a wide range of possible scenarios when producing their advice, including levels of electricity demand. The methodologies and analysis provided by NG:ESO are scrutinised by an independent advisory group appointed by government, the Panel of Technical Experts.
The CM incentivises the necessary investment to maintain and refurbish existing capacity and to finance new capacity, ensuring the transition to net zero happens in a managed way that does not compromise security of supply. This year’s auctions have already secured the majority of Great Britain’s capacity needs out to 2024/25 and we will continue to work with the NG:ESO to make sure that the transition to net zero is delivered in a manner that ensures the stability and security of the electricity system.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department made of the potential non-financial costs to society of achieving the Government's net zero emissions target.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department conducted cost-benefit analysis of our net zero ambition as part of the Impact Assessment for setting the sixth carbon budget. The net present value of meeting the sixth carbon budget and net zero target, compared to no further action, was estimated as a net benefit of £266 billion.