Drax Power Limited: Ofgem Investigation

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

I remind the noble Lord that policy costs on bills have increased from £115 on average in 2010 to an estimated £309 in 2024, so a lot of this increase occurred under his Government and the previous Conservative and Lib Dem Administrations. If we are serious about going towards clean power and net zero then we have to accept that we must finance the development of new energy-generating structures, and that is the case for biomass. Equally, that has to be done under sustainability criteria regulations that will ensure it happens. As for the OBR, its analysis has highlighted that delayed action on reaching net zero will have significant negative fiscal and economic impacts.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is this not a case of the regulators letting down the public again? Do we not need to have more accountability for our regulators? I suggest that each regulator has to produce an annual report that goes to a committee of the House of Commons, so that we can review what they are doing. At the moment, they are badly letting us down.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I think that, by implication, my noble friend is being critical of Ofgem, but I must say that that is not my experience. Ofgem is actually a rigorous regulator. It produces an annual report, and of course it would appear before a Select Committee if required.