Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) (No. 2) Regulations 2026

Pippa Heylings Excerpts

Tuesday 1st September 2026 General Committees

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond, and I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. The extension of the Government’s powers to support energy costs will be welcome news for my South Cambridgeshire constituents and for people all over the country, who face continued pressure from high bills. We Liberal Democrats support this necessary extension but remain concerned that families and businesses are still far too exposed to global energy market shocks.

The latest tensions and the ongoing conflict in the middle east serve only to increase the volatility in energy markets, so the Government’s £150 reduction on energy bills was welcome. However, the increase in wholesale gas prices resulting from the closure of the strait of Hormuz and from the existing tensions between the US and Iran was the main reason for Ofgem’s recent 4% price cap rise, which meant that the average household now faces a further £60 a year in costs.

The extension enables the Government to continue to fund 75% of the renewables obligation with public spending through the Exchequer, rather than through energy bills. We have called for that for a long time. We urge the Minister to go further and to remove the entirety of the levy from people’s bills. The £150 reduction in bills also comes from the discontinuation of the energy company obligation scheme. At the time of that discontinuation, we warned that delays in detailing how the scheme will be replaced would mean many households once again facing cold, damp homes this winter. I know that is an issue of deep concern to the Minister, but it is deeply concerning that only 5,470 homes have been upgraded through the warm homes local grant—just 0.1% of the Government’s target of upgrading 5 million homes by 2030. With energy prices remaining so volatile, improving the energy efficiency of our homes is one of the best ways to reduce bills in the long term and to protect households from future shocks.

It is time to provide a progressive social energy tariff for those struggling with costs. It is time that we acknowledge energy as a basic human need. That is why we Liberal Democrats call for an essential energy guarantee to give every household a discount on the basic portion of their energy use. That would save a typical family around £100 a year, and save the 20% least well-off around £140. Although we support the extension and the Government’s action to reduce some of the costs on energy bills, much more needs to be done to bring bills down and to protect households from future energy price shocks.