Energy Update

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

Obviously, we are very concerned to make sure that consumers are supported through the coming winter. That is absolutely at the heart of the existing Government’s policy, and I am sure it will be part of the incoming Prime Minister’s policies as well.

I ask the hon. Member to tell her constituents to have a look at what the Government have already done—the £39 billion-worth that we have already announced this year, not all of which has taken effect yet. For example, the £400 payment for 29 million households has not yet actually come in. I urge the hon. Member to relay to her constituents that the Government are on their side, have already committed large amounts of public funds to this and, I am sure, will be committing more in the coming months.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister, his officials and Treasury Ministers and officials for ensuring that the discount on electricity bills will be paid directly to consumers in Northern Ireland rather than having to go through the Assembly and the Departments, which quite frankly would not have been capable of administering it.

I am disappointed, however, that in the Minister’s statement today there was no mention of exploiting the resources that we have on our doorstep, namely the abundant supply of gas in the north-east of England, which could give a very quick supply of additional gas to the UK network. Is he not concerned that his increasing dependence on renewables—for which much of the infrastructure is dependent on the supply of rare earth metals, 60% of which are controlled by China—will leave us as dependent on China in future as Europe is on Russia today?

I have a more immediate question. The Minister has announced 93 contracts for difference. How will he ensure that the companies that get those contracts will not simply—as they are doing at present—refuse to activate them and sell electricity as if it were generated by the most expensive gas?

[Greg Hands]

I thank the right hon. Member for that list of important questions. He will know that the new taskforce has already started meeting to extend the energy bill support scheme, or provisions thereof, to Northern Ireland; that is welcome news.

I think the right hon. Member said that fracking would lead to quick supplies. I am not as convinced that he is that it would be quick, but as I said, we will be responding to the British Geological Survey in due course.

On dependence on renewables, the right hon. Member is right that a number of elements used in creating renewable energy resources are dependent on critical minerals, but that is exactly one of the reasons why the Government have recently launched the critical minerals strategy. We will be talking to all our international partners, as I do, about critical minerals and making sure that we have a diversity of sources of supply for them going forward.