Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish a timeline for the implementation of his local power plans policy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are progressing the Great British Energy (GBE) Bill through Parliament, and in October’s Spending Review the Chancellor announced £25 million to establish the company, with a further £100 million of capital funding to spend in 2025/26 so that GBE can start its important work to drive forward clean energy deployment this year.
GBE, once fully operational, will provide funding and support to local and combined authorities, and community energy groups, to roll out renewable energy projects. Plans are under development and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of enabling community-owned small-scale energy generators to sell electricity directly to local consumers on (a) energy prices, (b) grid stability and (c) the transition to net zero.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Small-scale generation sites, including many community energy groups, can benefit from an exemption, which means that they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers.
Local energy is unlikely to impact national energy prices, because these are driven by wholesale markets. In addition, given the scale of generation, local energy is unlikely to have a significant impact on grid efficiency overall. The Government recognises that local energy will play an important role in achieving the Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. To help deliver this, Great British Energy will support the development of up to 8GW of local and community energy projects.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to enable community-owned small-scale energy generators to sell electricity directly to local consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the role that access to local energy will play in achieving net zero. The Government’s licence exemption regimes already allow small scale suppliers, including many community energy groups, to come to market to supply local customers. One general exemption is the Class A Small Supplier exemption, under which a producer of energy who produces no more than 5MW of energy, of which no more than 2.5MW is provided to domestic consumers, does not need a licence to supply.
In addition. Ofgem has flexibility to award supply licenses to generation sites that are above the exemptions threshold when they are restricted to specified local area.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has received representations from fossil fuel companies on the Global Plastics Treaty.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support is available for landlords of traditional pre-1919 buildings to (a) conduct detailed retrofit assessments and (b) ensure compliance with EPC requirements.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Support is available to landlords to improve their properties. An eligibility tool is available on our ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page that will help landlords find the support available to them. Guidance for how to comply with EPC requirements can be found on gov.uk via the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-performance-certificates and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-private-rented-property-minimum-energy-efficiency-standard-landlord-guidance.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to introduce (a) exemptions and (b) alternative pathways for landlords unable to meet the EPC C rating requirement due to structural limitation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation will include proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030. In this consultation, we will set out proposals on the exemptions regime for properties that cannot meet the proposed increased standard. We encourage landlords and other key stakeholders to feed into this consultation when it is published.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the role of energy storage and back-up systems in managing the intermittency of wind and solar power generation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the vital role of energy storage and back-up systems in delivering clean power. As set out in our Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, we are committed to developing a flexible energy system that ensures security of supply through long term storage technologies which could include pumped hydro storage, CCUS, hydrogen to power, or liquid air energy storage.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing advertising restrictions on high carbon emission products (a) on television and (b) online.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to reducing emissions from high carbon products and will continue to bring forward proposals to do so.
The Committees of Advertising Practice and Advertising Standards Authority regulate the content and targeting of advertising in the UK, both on television and online, and the advertising codes include rules on environmental claims. The ASA system operates independently of the Government.