Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on anticipatory investment in decarbonisation projects; what plans his Department has to provide guidance to distribution networks on the funding of decarbonisation plans; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of decarbonisation investment on bills paid by customers.

Network regulation is a matter for the independent regulator, Ofgem. Government supports Ofgem in their work to ensure the price control provides an appropriate framework for distribution networks to invest as needed to support the transition to net zero. This includes capacity to support increased demand for low carbon technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, and connecting new sources of low-carbon electricity generation. Government also supports Ofgem in their objective of ensuring network regulation protects consumers, including providing value for money on their energy bills.