Great British Energy Bill

Debate between Polly Billington and Pippa Heylings

Report stage
Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Pippa Heylings]

I thank my hon. Friend for that fantastic example from her constituency, which is exactly the kind of project we are talking about. We know that

“Local power generation is an essential part of the energy mix, ensuring communities own and benefit from clean power projects, and reducing pressures on the transmission grid.”

In fact, those words are taken from the Government’s founding statement for Great British Energy, and the Minister said in this Chamber that

“Great British Energy will deliver a step change in investment in local and community energy projects, putting local authorities and communities at the heart of the energy transition.”—[Official Report, 5 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 530.]

Yet the community energy sector was brought almost to a standstill by the former Conservative Government, and barriers still exist in selling directly to customers and in the cost of connecting to the grid, so welcome words are not enough.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. I would like to clarify what she said about there not being anything in the Bill about community energy. It is in the founding statement of GB Energy, because we know the importance of locally delivered community energy in facilitating this transformation. I want to correct that for the record, because the suggestion that community energy is not one of the aims of this legislation is a misunderstanding.

[Pippa Heylings]

I appreciate that, which is why I quoted from the founding statement. The problem is that those words are not enshrined in the Bill itself, which is why we are surprised that the Government continue to vote down amendments that would put communities at the heart of the Bill. We will continue to push on that.

I thank the 58 Members from different parties who have supported amendment 5, which requires that the statement of strategic priorities for Great British Energy has specific regard to community-based clean energy schemes. I would also like to give recognition to my colleagues who are leading the way in promoting the benefits of community energy, including my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), as we have just heard.