Great British Energy Bill

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

I will finish with another example from my experience before I came to this place. The Trent Basin project in Nottingham was a fantastic innovation by a private company attempting to do a multi-technology project in a subsidy-free way. That has been important for the people who have ended up living there, but unfortunately it has continued to be an exception, not the rule, because there has not been the regulatory regime to develop such projects. GB Energy will be part of that transformation by providing the investment as well as the regulatory framework for us to deliver the community energy that will be vital for the country’s ambitions.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

I rise to speak to amendment 5 alongside my hon. Friends. I welcome the fact that the Government are keen to increase the amount of energy produced by renewables—we have certainly waited far too long in this country for the priority and urgency needed to try to shift electricity production away from fossil fuels definitively. Unlike the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), I look forward to the day when I can turn my lights on knowing that the electricity has been produced by the sun or wind.

I will acknowledge four excellent projects in my constituency, which are brilliant examples—or potential future examples—of community energy. South Brent Community Energy Society runs a community energy fund with the surplus from the operation of the wind turbine and solar panels that have been erected in the village. The fund is directed to new energy saving measures and renewable energy generation projects for the benefit of the community. Charities, schools and community groups have all benefited from the surplus energy that it produces, and it is a brilliant example of what can be done in a village environment with a community energy project.

Totnes Renewable Energy Society has solar panels on the roof of the civic hall that I can see from my bedroom window, and that power the electricity in my house, along with others. We also have a turbine in the river, which sadly does not have a name such as Thunder or Lightning like the ones in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), but does power the local high school. I also give a shout-out to Sustainable Blackawton, which is keen to find a site for a wind turbine, and to the Bigbury Fan Club, which is setting out on a long journey to try to get a turbine there.

I have spoken to many constituents who are excited by the prospect of creating new solar or wind projects on community or municipal buildings, or wind turbines in a village, but they are struggling. It is complicated to get planning permission, it is difficult to get funding, and it is virtually impossible to connect new projects to the national grid. We must make it easier, simpler and faster to connect up community energy projects, not only so that we can transfer to clean energy, but so that communities across the country, like the brilliant example from Eigg in Scotland, can connect to renewable energy in that way.

In the early 2010s, we had the Green Investment Bank—what a shame that we lost it in 2014, and with it 10 years of potential investment in green projects. We need to catch up for the lost decade since the Liberal Democrats did so much to grow offshore wind when we were in office. We will support the Government’s ambitions to transform our energy network, but community energy must be at the heart of it and baked into the Bill, so that every village that agrees to a wind turbine can benefit from it, knowing that they are using their own clean, locally produced energy for the benefit of their community, for lower bills and for cleaner energy.

We are calling for larger energy suppliers to work with community schemes across the country so that we can sell power to local customers at a discounted rate and provide community benefits.

[Ms Billington]

I would like further clarification about this interesting proposition from the Liberal Democrats about community energy groups working with the big energy companies. What plans do the Liberal Democrats have for the concept of securing ownership at community level? My concern about the model being suggested is that, rather than there being a community energy ownership model, it would instead be one of big companies investing in small communities.

[Caroline Voaden]

I thank the hon. Member for the intervention. The model would involve part ownership by the community and part ownership by large energy suppliers—

[Pippa Heylings]

And community energy groups.

[Caroline Voaden]

And community energy groups—but, yes, I will hand over to my hon. Friend, if I am allowed to do so.

[Pippa Heylings]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Caroline Voaden]

Yes, please.

[Pippa Heylings]

I think I will intervene, if that is okay with you, Madam Deputy Speaker. We welcome that question from the hon. Member for East Thanet (Ms Billington). In fact, there are multiple ownership models, so it is quite right to get clarification. Some of these will need investments from other companies, but others will—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. Please be seated. We have a speech mid-flow. Is that correct?

[Caroline Voaden]

indicated assent.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Then please continue. If you wish to respond to that intervention, you may do so, and I will go to another speaker afterwards.

[Caroline Voaden]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

To guarantee that local communities receive a fair share of the wealth generated from community energy projects, it is crucial that these are at the heart of the Bill, so I would welcome the Government’s support for amendment 5.

[Luke Murphy]

I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Report stage of the Great British Energy Bill. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friends the Members for Bolsover (Natalie Fleet) and for Erewash (Adam Thompson), who gave such eloquent and powerful maiden speeches earlier in the debate. It is also a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for East Thanet (Ms Billington), who showed such leadership on this issue prior to her being elected to this House. As well as commenting on the overall thrust of the Bill, I want to comment on new clause 1 and amendments 6, 8 and 5.

It is somewhat surprising and, indeed, interesting to hear Conservative Members calling for a review of the effective delivery of energy policy, for legislation to reduce energy bills by £300 and for the creation of jobs as a result, not least because a review of energy policy and the trajectory of bills and jobs created under the previous Government would reveal some stark facts. Every family and business in Britain paid the price of 14 years of Conservative failure through rocketing energy bills. Indeed, Britain faced a worse cost of living crisis than other countries, because the Tories left us exposed to international fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators such as Putin.

When I said in my intervention on the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), who has since vacated the Opposition Front Bench, that we were reliant on Putin, she responded that I did not understand energy markets. I am afraid that just shows that she does not understand energy markets, because the truth is that we are at the mercy of international markets of which Russia is a part. The previous Government did absolutely nothing to reduce our reliance on volatile fossil fuels, and as a result of their failure to invest in clean energy, they left us with a legacy of high energy bills, energy insecurity and a lack of clean energy jobs. With our plans for Great British Energy and clean power by 2030, the new Labour Government are determined to change that.

I am somewhat surprised by amendment 8, which calls for legislating the creation of 650,000 jobs, not least because we create these jobs not through legislation but by having a meaningful industrial strategy, which was lacking under the previous Government. Figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research—which, I must admit, is my former employer—show that around 4% of our GDP is made up of green goods and services compared with the European average of 6%. If we had had an industrial strategy and created jobs from offshore wind at the same rate as Denmark did from its offshore sector, we could have green goods and services making up 11.5% of the economy and we could have created 100,000 more jobs. So although I admire the chutzpah of Opposition Members calling for price reductions, and the creation of 650,000 jobs, through legislation, I welcome instead our approach of creating a publicly owned energy generation company—the first in 75 years.