Great British Energy Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 18th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests, especially as honorary president of National Energy Action. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Beckett, and the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, on their excellent maiden speeches. They are both remarkable role models in their own right. I also congratulate the Minister, who has sat through all the speeches today and displayed his staying power and great interest in this subject. I wish him well through the passage of the Bill.

The country is facing twin challenges of energy and food security. They are both extremely serious and should be tackled together. Specifically, I agree with all those who have said that the remit of the Bill is extremely broad—too broad. I hope we can clarify that through its passage, as one of my concerns is that this is a potentially massive land grab.

I would like to explore how relationships with those affected by the decisions will be handled. There is talk of consultations, but there must be more joined-up decisions between the Government, investors, local authorities, local communities and consumers. Take the position of offshore wind farms: consent for the wind farm is currently given separately from consent for the substation needed to land the energy onshore, then separate planning permission is sought for the overhead power lines. These pylons to transfer electricity long distances, losing up to 10% of the energy in transmission, are deeply unpopular among those in rural communities, who have to live with them but recognise that they have absolutely no benefit to those living there. Can the Minister explain and define the engagement process with interested parties—for example, farmers, fishermen, residents, consumers and industry? What form will that consultation take?

The Bill seems to give a blanket power to the Secretary of State to decide. There is very little parliamentary oversight, merely reports to Parliament. In Clause 5:

“The Secretary of State must prepare a statement of strategic priorities for Great British Energy”.


He

“may revise or replace the statement”,

but need only

“lay a copy of the statement, and of any revised … statement, before Parliament”.

We need to amend that to have greater parliamentary oversight over the Secretary of State’s powers, so that they are not completely untrammelled.

There needs to be formal consultation with the interested parties before decisions are made. Take the example of the spatial squeeze; it has raised very real concerns among fishermen about how their fishing grounds risk being squeezed out by offshore wind. I wonder whether the Minister has already had the opportunity to meet with farmers, and particularly with fishermen, to address their concern about this spatial squeeze. What form does the Minister expect the relationship with these interested parties to take—not just with farmers and fishermen but with intensive energy users, such as brickmakers, those in ceramics and others in the manufacturing sector? What form of consultation will there be?

The Minister referred briefly to finance and talked about some finance coming from the national wealth fund. He will be aware that the Association of British Insurers has been closely engaging with the Treasury on the development of this fund, and I was very pleased to receive a briefing from it. The ABI hopes that the national wealth fund’s success will be in

“unlocking investment, delivering economic growth and creating new green high skilled jobs”,

but it has identified current barriers that could prevent this happening. They include the need for

“a national transition plan … sector specific investment roadmaps, especially for the five priority sectors identified by government”.

I will name them:

“green steel, green hydrogen, industrial decarbonisation, gigafactories, and ports”.

It also identifies the need for

“greater engagement between investors and local authorities to develop investable propositions”.

To ensure the success of Great British Energy and the funding from the national wealth fund, how does the Minister expect the current barriers identified by the ABI to be addressed?

I turn to sustainable sources of energy. We had a little debate on Drax at Oral Questions last week. It raised the question of why we are importing woodchip from abroad when we could use more sustainable, locally produced willow coppice and miscanthus, easily meeting the Government’s own sustainability criteria. Equally, we should use offshore and onshore wind energy locally, close to where it was produced. That would reduce the need for pylons; as I fear the Minister will find out, rural dwellers do not accept them criss-crossing the countryside, bringing no benefit to them locally.

The Minister did not mention energy from waste. Together with renewable energy, this is a very powerful strand of energy source in Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany and other European countries. It disposes of household waste and creates energy. What is the Government’s position on this?

Environmental levies of £2 billion are added to energy bills, primarily in the standing charge to every household and business, which goes towards future infrastructure. I ask the Minister to name any other utility or public service whose future infrastructure is paid for up front by the consumer.

Offshore-generated wind coming on shore at massive power stations poses problems, particularly when transported long distances to the national grid. We are soon to see offshore floating turbines to replace fixed turbines at sea. I urge the Minister to address these problems and to meet with the fishing fleet to avoid dangers not just of their grounds being squeezed but to marine life, porpoises and dolphins from the constant buzz of turbines. What happens to wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries at the end of their working lives? How will they be disposed of? These two issues alone, among others, create real environmental challenges.

At COP 24 the Prime Minister agreed and signed up to an 80% reduction in emissions. This will impose a heavy burden on households and businesses alike going forward, while countries that deny climate change, such as the US, China, India and Brazil, continue to pollute regardless to ensure that their industries remain competitive.

In conclusion, I simply ask how this Bill to create Great British Energy will benefit Great Britain, given the massive impact the work of the company will have on the countryside, local communities, industry and consumers.