Electricity Supply: Decarbonisation

Baroness Worthington Excerpts

Monday 15th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

I thank the noble Lord for his kind comments. The ambitions for, and commitment of the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister to, this agenda are undoubted, and we will continue the work of the last Government in that regard. The targets and aims are ambitious, and we will share those with both Houses so that we can gain the consensus and achieve the momentum to take this agenda forward.

[Baroness Worthington (Lab)]

My Lords, I, too, take this opportunity to welcome the noble Lord to his new post; I look forward to a fruitful relationship. I also take this opportunity to wish my noble friend Whitty a happy birthday. Can the Minister confirm whether the department has assessed the price implications of adopting a decarbonisation target for the electricity sector? That might well be a cheaper way of proceeding than the carbon price support mechanism we are currently using to try to phase out coal and make good on that pre-election pledge.