Great British Energy Bill

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 18th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I have always been an admirer of sovereign wealth funds. They enable significant investment, targeting strategic national priorities for the benefit of their relevant populations. They can be consistent long-term enablers of plans for national leadership in their focus on identified industries. So I very much welcome this Bill wholeheartedly.

I also welcome—and commend the maiden speech of—my noble friend Lady Beckett. Her words were inspirational and I well recall when years ago she brought about the merger of the Department for the Environment and the Agriculture Ministry into the new department we have today. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay. I have long been an admirer of his courageous path back into the House. I look forward to both his future remarks and those of my noble friend.

There can be no higher or more important task than transforming the national economy towards a more sustainable future, to stabilise the threat of ever more damaging climate change. The science is indisputable. The world is accelerating through the threshold of 1.5 degrees warming above pre-industrial levels, jeopardising the two degrees limit in the Paris Agreement. That public ownership does not occur more in the UK is curious: indeed, allowing—almost welcoming—foreign ownership of all parts of the economy has often been a long-term detriment to the interest of the nation. It enables foreign owners to set their own objectives and priorities to their own overseas interests and enables virtually unfettered reshaping of the relevant company invested in.

Other countries undertake national plans. For example, in France, the French have prioritised nuclear power, and the Danes have Ørsted to focus on offshore wind projects, including projects in the UK. I am sure the Government are correct to focus on all renewable energy in the pursuit of net zero and more competitive sources in the long term. The Government are to be congratulated on bringing this legislation forward so early in the new Parliament. It must start as soon as possible.

However, I have one major concern. How can this energy public ownership be protected in future from attacks by some rogue future Conservative Administration? Is the Minister confident that all necessary steps are contained in the legislation to keep Conservative privatisations and other asset stripping or sell-offs from undermining this public investment in projects? The debate between the relative merits of public ownership and state enterprise is ultimately sterile. There are good and bad examples to be found within both definitions. The emphasis must be to enable effective management to be accountable for their stewardship.

I am concerned that in Clause 1(4), the Secretary of State has the power to revoke the designation of Great British Energy by notice. Am I right to be alarmed that this is an open goal for the Conservatives? Public money under public ownership of such a fund should be consistent and for the long term. It must be shielded from short-term political interference and be appropriately financed.

On previous assessments, total infrastructure requirements on the pathway to net zero have been assessed at £28 billion per year. While that ambitious investment by government may be beyond reach in the near term, is my noble friend confident that £8.3 billion of capitalisation over the course of this new Parliament will be sufficient? Does he envisage this to be sufficient essential investment, and is he confident in the checks and balances necessary to provide effective value for money for public funds? When he comes to reply, can my noble friend explain how recent announcement of investments in carbon capture and storage may go ahead in conjunction with the structure of the Bill? In this, I refer to the remarks of my noble friend Lady Winterton.

Great British Energy must be more than a bit player in hastening the nation towards energy security from renewable power sources. While welcoming the Bill and noting the issues debated in the other House, I draw attention to a few areas of interest in the setting of objects under Clause 3 and strategic priorities under Clause 5. Great British Energy aims to ensure that clean, home-grown energy makes Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. NESO’s recent Clean Power 2030 report identifies demand flexibility as a key factor in achieving clean power. Does the Minister agree with this assessment and acknowledge that the UK’s clean energy plan should also focus on the demand side, which, unlike supply-side flexibility, is not subject to the same administrative, regulatory or cost barriers that are often seen with supply chain solutions for clean energy? Does he support NESO’s plans to offer the demand flexibility service, a scheme facilitated by the smart metering network, all year round?

Alongside the Government investment, does the Minister agree that the smart metering network can help households to adopt more flexible, cost-effective behaviours through better understanding their usage? While investment in clean, home-grown energy is urgently needed, there are also existing assets that can help the Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that in a time of fiscal constraint, alongside this Bill, the Government need to take advantage of existing national assets, such as the smart metering network, as this can help manage energy demand and can be harnessed to unlock wider benefits, such as identifying and targeting support to retrofit energy-inefficient housing?

Furthermore, it seems counterproductive to withdraw renewable energy sources by temporarily closing down their supply at various times. Can my noble friend the Minister confirm that energy storage is part of the objects contained within the Bill? With GB Energy set to turbocharge production into renewable energy, all of which we will need in the grid, does my noble friend agree that maintaining grid stability and reducing balancing costs will be vital for hitting the clean power ambition and maintaining UK energy security? Will he also look at how the smart metering network can help the Government deliver that much-needed stability and flexibility?

One of the aims of the Bill is to ensure more value for bill payers and taxpayers. Does the Minister agree that existing infrastructure, such as smart meters which provide more accurate information about energy usage, leading to lower consumption and bills, also has a major part to play in the Government’s plans to reduce those energy bills? For example, although the Bill outlines ambitious plans for clean energy development in the future, many households continue to face fuel poverty. Does the Minister acknowledge that we could better utilise existing infrastructure to deliver solutions more quickly, whether by saving users money on their bills or by providing anonymised data, which can identify those most at risk of or living in fuel poverty who would benefit from that targeted assistance? Can he confirm that encouragement and examination of these smart meters and their progress will be part of the Government’s agenda?

It is interesting that this Second Reading debate is happening today when, next Wednesday, we will be drawing the nation’s attention to Fuel Poverty Awareness Day. I draw my remarks to a close by noting how appropriate it is that my noble friend Lord Hunt of Kings Heath is once more the Minister introducing a landmark piece of legislation, as it was he who oversaw the climate change legislation in your Lordships’ House in 2008. I wish this legislation as much success as he brought with that Bill.

Great British Energy Bill

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 17th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

There were a number of issues previously about that. Of course, geothermal originally required a certain degree of fracking, but that is no longer necessary. Since the development of United Downs, there have been no such earthquake tremors, all of which were very low indeed. But it is an issue for the public and one that needs to be recognised.

Coming back to what the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering, said, I want to thank her for bringing out some of the issues that we looked at in the sub-committee, and I congratulate her on being the champion of fishers that I know she is. On the issue of solar energy and the take of land, I do not think that we should in any way be questioning or pessimistic; indeed, solar should not be on high-grade agricultural land, but we should look at dual use of these areas. Even where there is solar on grade 3 or grade 4 agricultural land, it is not inevitable that this should be its only use. I would like to see the equivalent of a Section 106 agreement in the planning regime to say that there needs to be allied agricultural use on that land such as harvesting the grass, grazing or biodiversity objectives, which are absolutely possible.

However, I really wanted to intervene on community energy and re-echo what the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, said. The great thing about community energy is not just the transition but the involvement of people in making that transition happen. It makes them part of the great process that we have to go through, and that is why it is essential that achieving this is part of Great British Energy’s remit.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

My Lords, while the Committee considers the amendments in this group drawing attention to immediate overriding priority objectives, I would like to provide a wider context that includes consumers and demand-side aspects. Perhaps it could be summed up by adding to Amendment 46 “assist in the management of consumer demand”, but it would apply equally to many of the other amendments.

The Minister may recall that, in my Second Reading remarks, I drew attention to digital infrastructure and smart metering. Recently, the department has made statements on the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which builds on NESO’s plans, and on the capacity market to incentivise investment in demand-side response mechanisms. The amendment in the name of my noble friend Lady Young mentions improvements to energy efficiency and community ownership. In this regard, consumer-led flexibility can play a vital role in shifting their electricity use through smart technology such as smart-charging EVs and heat pumps.

The smart meter network is a critical national asset that is uniquely placed to enable the transition to a modern energy system. The DCC and Vodafone have signed a deal to bring 4G connectivity to Britain’s smart metering network beyond 2033, and Vodafone’s 4G has 99% coverage in the UK. The Government have committed to invest £6.6 billion to upgrade 5 million homes and cut bills for families as part of their warm homes plan. The smart meter network can be used completely securely to identify energy-inefficient housing stock, as well as damp and insulation issues.

NESO’s plans include offering a demand flexibility service to help consumers save money by reducing their usage during peak times, thereby helping to balance the grid. This DFS, powered by smart meters, should be a key part to facilitate Amendment 46 and the Government’s plans. In the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, will the DFS be brought forward and be applicable to all housing at all times of the year, and will it target support to retrofit energy-inefficient housing? Have any costings been considered by the Government and savings identified? That is the subject of the next group of amendments.

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

My Lords, I apologise. In my excitement to contribute in Committee, I forgot to apologise for not being able to come to previous sessions. I also forgot to declare that I am a director of Aldustria Ltd, a battery storage company, and that I chair the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership, which is involved in biodiversity issues.