Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the i) effectiveness and ii) adequacy of the consistency of voluntary community benefits guidance for onshore wind developments.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
England and Scotland have established voluntary community benefits guidance for onshore wind, setting out best practice approaches with expectations that developers provide £5,000 per megawatt of capacity yearly over the project’s lifetime.
The quality and value of community benefits have increased over time in Scotland, with large scale projects commonly offering this figure or more. There is limited evidence in England given the de facto ban, however this will be monitored as deployment increases.
Government has sought views on the potential introduction of mandatory community benefits for low carbon energy infrastructure through our working paper, published May 2025.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impacts of making community benefit payments for onshore wind developments in England a statutory requirement.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The ‘Community benefits and shared ownership for low carbon energy infrastructure: working paper’ (published in May 2025) sought views on the level of contributions, calculation methods and the scope of technologies to help assess these impacts to ensure that any scheme delivers benefits that outweigh potential costs. We will publish a Government response shortly. Additionally, we note that community benefits provision is already well-established in the onshore wind sector on a voluntary basis, meaning many developers factor this into their existing project practices.
Any decision on mandating community benefits will be informed by stakeholder feedback and follow an impact assessment.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many employees were deployed in utility sectors to respond to red warnings issued as a result of Storm Goretti.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Electricity Network Operator, National Grid Electricity Distribution, deployed 900 engineers and field staff each day, from Friday 9th to Tuesday 13th January, when supplies were fully restored in the impacted regions.
We are unable to confirm how many employees were deployed in other utility sectors as the department does not hold this information and is held by relevant Government Departments.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cost recovery mechanisms within the electricity system do not adversely impact small businesses.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is working closely with Ofgem, who are undertaking a review of how energy system costs are recovered which began with a Call for Input published in July 2025. This review will consider options that make cost recovery fairer and more efficient.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increases in electricity capacity charges on (a) consumers and (b) businesses.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
By law, energy network charging arrangements are a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator. Ofgem has identified the need for significant investment in new electricity network capacity to transform Great Britain’s electricity networks to enable clean power and economic growth.
As part of its work to determine the next set of price controls for the electricity transmission and gas transmission and distribution sectors on 4 December, Ofgem conducted analysis of the overall economic impact, which includes an assessment of the direct effects on network charges for both domestic and non-domestic customers. The full impact assessment can be found here: RIIO-3 Final Determinations – Impact Assessment
The Government and Ofgem are committed to ensuring that energy costs are recovered fairly, including considering the ongoing role of standing charges.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of capacity charges on (a) small and (b) medium sized enterprises.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
By law, energy network charging arrangements are a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator. Ofgem has identified the need for significant investment in new electricity network capacity to transform Great Britain’s electricity networks to enable clean power and economic growth.
As part of its work to determine the next set of price controls for the electricity transmission and gas transmission and distribution sectors on 4 December, Ofgem conducted analysis of the overall economic impact, which includes an assessment of the direct effects on network charges for both domestic and non-domestic customers. The full impact assessment can be found here: RIIO-3 Final Determinations – Impact Assessment
The Government and Ofgem are committed to ensuring that energy costs are recovered fairly, including considering the ongoing role of standing charges.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a ring-fenced budget specifically for geothermal projects in the next round of Contract for Difference funding allocations (AR8).
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Auction parameters and budget are set based on a wide range of factors, including an assessment of the potential project pipeline and progress towards decarbonisation targets. The Government will confirm the details of Allocation Round 8 budget and parameters closer to the time.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to improve regulatory support for geothermal energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We know there is promising potential for geothermal energy in the UK and particularly as a low carbon source of heat. However, it is too soon to regulate such a small and nascent sector. Therefore there are no immediate plans to make any changes in the regulatory space.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will consider the potential merits of developing a national roadmap with targets for the development of geothermal energy for (a) heat and (b) power generation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government knows that to achieve net zero, we must look at how we can accelerate the potential of all low carbon technologies including geothermal.
However, the UK Geothermal industry is nascent when compared to other heat and power renewable technologies such as heat pumps and offshore wind. While it seems too soon to assign a target, we will keep this under review. We will continue to gather evidence to inform any future decisions on geothermal and the role it can play in decarbonising heat and power.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of high energy costs on households in rural areas that are not connected to the mains gas grid.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030, including those in rural communities.
We are currently supporting rural and off gas grid homes through schemes including the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which is aimed at low income and vulnerable consumers.
Support is also available through the Warm Home Discount which has been expanded for this winter, – increasing the total number of households that will receive the discount from 3.2 million to around 6 million.