David Mowat
Main Page: David Mowat (Conservative - Warrington South)Department Debates - View all David Mowat's debates with the Scotland Office
(10 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
David Mundell
Absolutely. The hon. Gentleman will have heard the Secretary of State highlight the importance of the flotation of the aircraft carrier on Friday, which will be a very important moment not only for Scotland, but for our whole United Kingdom.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
5. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of Scottish independence on energy flows between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alistair Carmichael)
Scotland has a thriving energy sector which benefits from unrestricted access to the integrated Great Britain energy market. That supports jobs, keeps bills lower and spreads the substantial costs over 30 million households and businesses.
David Mowat
The Scottish Government have now decided to generate 100% of electricity from renewables by 2020. The implied subsidy for that is £4 billion a year, or £1,000 per voter a year. Has the Secretary of State had any discussions with the Scottish Government about who would pay for that in the event of independence?
Mr Carmichael
What I can tell my hon. Friend is that at the moment the cost of the subsidy required for the development of renewables is spread across the whole United Kingdom market. In an independent Scotland, that cost would have to be met by households in Scotland, which would mean a difference of between £38 and £189 in Scottish energy bills. We do exceptionally well from the subsidies that come to Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.