Friends of the Earth's Mike Childs on the Conservatives' energy plans
Mike Childs, head of Climate Change, Friends of the Earth
19th March 2010
The Conservatives have announced the energy plans they would put in place if elected. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but with some very welcome commitments that will put the other parties on the back-foot.
They should get one loud cheer for committing to introduce feed-in tariffs for large-scale renewables, a move that has been resisted by the Government. Feed-in tariffs are the long-term guaranteed subsidy, which has been used very effectively across Europe to boost renewable energy and create new industries and tens of thousands of new jobs. Friends of the Earth successfully forced the Government to introduce Feed-in tariffs for smaller-scale renewable energy, such as solar electricity on homes and offices.
Green Investment Bank welcomed
The Conservatives should also get a cheer for committing to a Green Investment Bank. The bank is necessary to deliver the billions needed to transform our antiquated energy infrastructure into a ‘bright new shiny kit’ fit for the 21st century. Their plans are short on the detail, but the political commitment is welcome. Let’s see if Labour follow suit in the forthcoming Budget. The Liberal Democrats and Greens are already on board. A full sweep would be very welcome.
Capacity management "welcome revolution"
The free-market rhetoric surrounding the plans doesn’t quite match with the content, which is good news. For example, the Tories are planning to go back on the deregulatory moves made by the Labour Government and will reintroduce “capacity management”. This is a tool by which they cannot only ensure the UK has enough power, but also the type of power. It would be a welcome revolution. Earlier this year Ofgem, the energy regulator, said the current system wouldn’t deliver on either energy security or climate change.
Energy efficiency "missed opportunity"
The great missed opportunity within the Conservatives plans is on energy efficiency. Their ‘pay as you save’ scheme is welcome, but only a small part of the answer. It allows householders to invest in energy efficiency and payback the loan over time as their energy bills drops. But it won’t make much of a difference in the rented sector or for people suffering from fuel poverty.
Where is the statutory minimum standard for private rented houses to clamp down on the dodgy landlords? Where’s the fuel poverty strategy? Where’s the requirement for energy companies to work with local authorities in renovating properties street by street? Where are the policies to drive energy efficiency in commerce?
Failure to trumpet economic benefits of renewing energy infrastructure
A surprise in today’s package is the failure to trumpet the real economic benefits that renewing our energy infrastructure can bring in terms of new jobs and industries for the UK and a piece of the fast growing global market for low carbon technologies. They’ll need an industrial strategy to deliver these, which is an interventionist approach, because without this we’ll just end up boosting German, Chinese, Norwegian and US industries. Interestingly, they’ve also undersold decentralised energy, despite previously promising to back it big time.
The big boo the plans will get from environmentalists is on nuclear. But thank God they have pledged not to subsidise it, because without subsidies plants are unlikely to get built. Anyone remember Margaret Thatcher’s nuclear renaissance? She planned 10 nuclear power stations and only one got built because the economics are mad.