Gas Storage Levels

Debate between Michael Shanks and Lindsay Hoyle

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

The shadow Minister’s point would be well made were it not for the fact that it is completely untrue. If we look at the facts, the capacity market notice that he mentions was cancelled—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Minister has made a direct hint that what the Member said was untrue. Is he sure of that, or does he want to rephrase it?

[Michael Shanks]

I apologise, Mr Speaker; I think the shadow Minister was confused in the facts that he gave to Parliament today. I am happy to set that right.

Let us look at the facts. The National Energy System Operator—the people who run the system—stated clearly:

“At no point were electricity supplies less than anticipated demand and our engineers were able to rebalance the system without the need to consider any emergency measures.”

If we listen to the experts—to National Gas and to NESO—they both confirmed over the weekend that there was resilience in the system. I reiterate the point that the system operated exactly as it was intended to do.

If the shadow Minister has complaints about how the system operates in the country and the gas storage situation, he may want to look at some of his colleagues who were in power over the past 14 years. He knows the truth about his party’s record. He is a very smart guy, and he knows they left us exposed. He knows they did not do enough to build the system that we need and he knows what caused the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. While his party is busy crowdsourcing policy advice on Twitter from net zero sceptics, it would be far better if they looked at their own record in government and, instead of criticising us, recognised that we are getting on with building a resilient energy system for the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

The shadow Minister missed from his story the role of Liz Truss. When she was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2017, she made the decision to close our gas storage facility. Does the Minister agree that if we want energy security and lower prices, that all depends on reducing our reliance on the volatile nature of the international fossil fuel market? Does that not mean that his clean power action plan for 2030 is exactly the right policy to address the events of the past few days?

[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The decisions that the previous Government took on storage are for them to answer, and anyone who looks at their record will rightly raise questions about that. On the broader point, he is right. The only plan for how we can get off the volatile fossil fuel markets, to which the previous Government left us far too exposed, is the clean power action plan that we have announced. If the Tories oppose that, they need to come up with their alternative to deliver the resilience in the system that we are fighting for every single day.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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[Mr Speaker]

I think the Minister has got the point.

[Michael Shanks]

The hon. Lady is right; this is an incredibly important issue that gets to the heart of the fact we inherited from the previous Government not just an economic mess but a series of policy decisions not made, and an energy system that needed us to take serious decisions quickly to build resilience for the future.

On the broader point about consumers, she will know that my hon. Friend the Minister for consumers is doing a lot of work on exactly what the warmer homes scheme will look like, to ensure that people have as warm a home as possible. She is right that at times such as this, the people in the poorest households struggle the most. We are doing what we can to ensure that homes are insulated and, in the long term, to bring down bills. The only way to do that is to deliver clean power by 2030—faster than the previous Government would ever have managed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

As my hon. Friend knows, we have met Unite on a number of occasions over the past few months since Petroineos made the disappointing decision to follow through on its closure plans for the Grangemouth refinery. It is important that we look at every possible option, and we have done.

It is also important that the Government are clear that we want to see a long-term sustainable future for the refinery site. That is why we invested in Project Willow, which at the moment is coming up with credible investable propositions for the site. We want to protect the workers and do whatever we can to ensure a just transition at Grangemouth and for industry right across the country, but those options need to be long-term and sustainable so that we do not drive workers back into this process again a few years down the line. We are committed to ensuring that we invest in long-term sustainable propositions for the site, and of course we will meet anyone and discuss any propositions to help make that happen.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

It is so good to hear the Minister affirm the need to bring the public onside, as well as private sector investment, to achieve the transformation towards green power and net zero. The Liberal Democrats support Great British Energy if community energy is at the centre of the Great British Energy Bill. Our colleagues in the Lords are debating amendments relating to direct participation in and benefit from community energy. Will the Minister agree to those proposals if they come to this House?

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[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend asks an extremely important question. All communities should benefit from the transformation that we want to make to the energy system. Part of the answer is improving how we use smart systems right across the energy system, so that people have much more consumer-led flexibility in their options—we are moving forward with that. In the clean power action plan that we published last week, we committed to doing much more to give people the power to take advantage of some of the opportunities she mentions.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

Community engagement and funding are important. With large-scale solar farms planned for agricultural land, does the Secretary of State think that there are any circumstances in which local communities might know better than him?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I agree with my hon. Friend that nuclear will play a central role in our clean power mission, and will continue to be a critical part of our energy mix as we progress towards 2030 and far beyond. Great British Nuclear is continuing to drive forward the competition on small modular reactors, with bids currently being evaluated by the Department, and I look forward to having more to say about this in due course.

[Mr Speaker]

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

[Bill Esterson]

The last Government held a consultation on electricity market arrangements, but despite having said that that was their flagship policy in this area, they did not publish the results of that consultation. Does my hon. Friend agree that electricity and, indeed, energy market reform is crucial to achieving the Government’s stated 2030 clean energy targets and to reducing bills, and can he say whether this Government will publish the results of the last Government’s consultation and if so, when?

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[Michael Shanks]

I think the right hon. Gentleman thinks that was a “gotcha” question, but, of course, the Conservative party did not vote for the Bill at all. Amendment or not, I do not think he can really speak about what Great British Energy might deliver, because, despite it being one of the most popular policies at the last election, the Conservatives failed to bother to vote for it.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

Last week, the National Energy System Operator published a full systems cost analysis of the Secretary of State’s flagship project to carbonise the grid by 2030. This morning, the Secretary of State said on several media outlets that the report shows that his plans will lower bills. I remind the House that the report assumes that gas prices are 40% higher than the Department’s own estimates, that the price of carbon price is at least double what it is now, that the Government can commission more offshore wind in the next two years than in the last six combined without moving prices, and that they can build the grid at a pace we have never seen before in this country, without any delays. Even if all that is achieved, page 78 of the report shows that the cost of the system will be higher. For clarity, would the Minister like to repeat at the Dispatch Box the Secretary of State’s claim that the NESO report shows that Labour’s system will lead to a lower cost of electricity?

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Michael Shanks)]

My hon. Friend is right; there are good projects right across the country that we hope to invest in in the lead-up to delivering in 2030. The NESO report clearly set out that our aim is achievable. The Conservative party wants to continue having the arguments of the past; we are determined, with ambition, to deliver on the arguments of the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the importance of community energy projects throughout the country. We want to see many more of them, but we have inherited a grid that needs significant upgrading, and we are now working apace to ensure that that happens. Part of the work that I have been doing with National Grid and others involves trying to identify the next steps that are needed to shorten the connections queue, and also to make it more affordable for smaller community projects to connect. There is an important role for partnership as well, with some of the bigger renewables projects giving part of their connections queues to smaller ones, and that is already happening in some parts of the country. There is no doubt that there is much more to do, but we are, as I have said, working apace to try to move this forward after 14 years of inaction.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

As we have heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt), the lack of national grid capacity is holding back the UK’s push towards renewable energy. There are numerous examples of projects that have been delayed because they are waiting to be connected to the national grid, or because connection is too expensive. In my constituency, we cannot even connect the solar panels and batteries for the ambitious plan to decarbonise and electrify the refuse fleet for South Cambridgeshire district council. The projects that have been delayed include the building of new homes, which is crucial at present. Can the Minister explain to us how we are to reach this stage on the scale and at the pace that is needed?

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Shanks]

I could be wrong, but I think the right hon. Gentleman previously said that his own Government’s plans on onshore wind in England were not the right approach to take. I agree with him, which is why we lifted the onshore wind ban. The reality is that whereas the previous Government used to talk the talk on climate action, we are the ones now delivering—and delivering an energy system fit for the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)]

One way to increase clean electricity generation in the United Kingdom would be to invest at pace in new nuclear. We left government with a clear plan to get to 24 GW of nuclear power by 2050. Does that target remain?