Energy: Tariffs

Baroness Worthington Excerpts

Thursday 13th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, my noble friend raises a very important part of the work that the Department of Energy and Climate Change is undertaking. Rolling out smart meters in a mass rollout from 2014 will enable consumers to see how much energy they are using and to make choices about whether they need to reduce their own energy consumption. My noble friend raises the question of industry and suppliers. This is very much led by industry and energy suppliers—they are very involved in the rollout of smart meters. We are working collectively.

[Baroness Worthington]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that until there is proper reform of the energy market to introduce genuine competition in generation consumers cannot be guaranteed fair prices, no matter how many tariffs are on offer, and that the Government’s Energy Bill represents a missed opportunity to usher in genuine market reform?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, I do not quite know how the noble Baroness can predict what the Energy Bill will do until it arrives. When it arrives, I am sure that we will have long discussions over it. She misses out the point that the Energy Bill has brought certainty for investment. It will create a lot of jobs and ensure that consumers are at the heart of energy policy.