Local Power Plan

Bill Esterson Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

Select Committees look at the evidence. The evidence we have heard is that community energy is a great way of bringing down bills and giving people the confidence to take part in the energy transition. The Secretary of State talked about solar in his statement. We heard that golf courses use 10 times as much land as solar farms. Even if the Committee on Climate Change recommendations are adopted, twice as much land will still be used for golf courses. The Country Land and Business Association told us that concerns about land use are a myth: that the planning system protects the best and most versatile land for crop production, and that the roll-out of solar should be encouraged as a way of diversifying for farmers, delivering cheap electricity for both neighbouring businesses and domestic use. Will the Secretary of State say how he intends to ensure as many people as possible in rural areas understand the benefits of community energy and solar more widely? Will he ensure that those myths are finally busted?

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend did a very good job of busting those myths in his question and he is absolutely right. The truth is that you cannot, at one and the same time, complain about bills being too high and then reject the cheapest cleanest form of power, but I am afraid that that is the position of the Conservative party. There is no hiding the fact. Nobody can disagree—you can disagree about other things—that solar is the cheapest form of power, but the Conservatives are against it.

My hon. Friend makes a really important point about community energy. Let us be honest, we are in the foothills of what we need to achieve as a country. Germany and Denmark are miles ahead of us. This is about a different conception of energy and who owns it: not just big multinational companies, not just the big companies that the Conservatives seem to want to just leave it all to. We want local people to be able to have a stake in the system. That is what this plan is about.