As the country heads to the polls to elect a new government, Utility Week reflects on what the main political parties have revealed over the past few weeks on the key issues for the industry.
While the polls have consistently pointed to a Conservative majority, there is little doubt that sector leaders will be watching tomorrow’s exit poll with baited breath. A Labour majority, or potentially even a hung parliament, could have huge ramifications for utilities, with the obvious example of renationalisation.
Even if the election delivers the expected outcome, this does not necessarily spell a lucky escape for the biggest companies in the sector. Some commentators believe that renationalisation has hit a vein of popularity and that any government will be expected to “crack down” to some extent on water and energy networks.
A Conservative majority would also renew the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, something which many chief executives have expressed concern about.
Then, of course, there is the distinct possibility that at 10pm the big revelation will be that all of the parties have failed to convince the public of their suitability to govern. The result of that would be yet more uncertainty, and probably another election within six months.
Putting the party politics to one side for a moment, Utility Week has spent the past few weeks looking at the issues which we want the next government (regardless of which rosette it sports) to focus on.
These range from the need to identify a clear pathway for decarbonisation of heat, electric vehicle infrastructure and energy efficiency but also putting a real focus on the under-debated issue of water efficiency. We also want to see the government commit to the smart meter programme by making the rollout mandatory, as well as agreeing to an independent review of the energy price cap.
We will make the case for the industry no matter who forms the next government. But, in the meantime, here’s a reminder of where the main parties stand on some of the key policy areas.
CONSERVATIVES
- Keep the existing energy price cap
- Introduce “new measures to lower bills”
- Give the Competition and Markets Authority enhanced powers to tackle “consumer rip-offs and bad business practices”
- Extend the rebate on water bills for households in the South West
- Consult “on the earliest date” for phasing out the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars, while “minimising the impact on drivers and businesses”
- Invest £1 billion in completing a fast-charging network so that all households are within 30 miles of a rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging station
- Prioritise decarbonisation schemes, new flood defences, a battery “gigafactory”, clean energy and EV infrastructure in the first post-election budget
- Support gas for hydrogen production and nuclear energy as “important parts of the energy system”
- Increase the output of the UK’s “world-leading” offshore wind industry to 40GW by 2030
- Enable new floating wind farms
- Invest £9.2bn in improving the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals
- Invest £800m in transport and storage infrastructure in order to establish carbon capture and storage clusters in the next decade
LABOUR
- Treat energy and water as “rights rather than commodities”
- Nationalise supply arms of the big six as well as energy networks, National Grid and water companies
- Public-owned energy suppliers will have remit to help households to reduce their energy consumption
- National Grid will be turned into a new UK National Energy Agency, with remit to oversee the delivery of decarbonisation targets
- 14 new Regional Energy Agencies will replace existing district network operators with statutory responsibilities for decarbonising electricity and heat as well as reducing fuel poverty
- Achieve a “substantial majority” of carbon emissions reductions by 2030
- Generate 90 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030
- Half of all heat from renewable and low-carbon sources by the end of the next decade
- Roll out technologies like heat pumps and hydrogen, while investing in district heat networks
- Back nuclear power, including the delivery of a new plant on Ynys Mon following the collapse of Hitachi’s plans at Wylfa
- Trial and expand tidal energy, such as the Swansea Bay project
- Invest to reduce the costs of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production
- Deliver 7,000 new offshore and 2,000 new onshore wind turbines
- Expand energy storage and invest in grid enhancements and interconnectors
- Install solar panels on nearly two million social homes
- Enable the installation of solar panels on a further 750,000 homes through a programme of interest-free loans, grants and changes to regulations
- Create 2,000 Community Solar Hubs by installing panels in public locations like libraries, community centres and one stop shops
- Upgrade the energy efficiency of nearly all UK homes
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
- Achievement zero by “2045 at the latest” when emissions from hard-to-treat sectors are phased out
- Emergency programme to cut emissions “substantially” over the next ten-years
- Increase government expenditure on climate and the environment to “at least 5 per cent” of the total within five years
- Generate “at least 80 per cent” of electricity from renewable sources by 2030
- Remove existing restrictions on the roll out of solar and wind power
- Provide additional £12bn over five years to support tidal and wave power, energy storage, demand response, smart grids and hydrogen
- Boost energy interconnectors with neighbouring countries
- Establish a Department for Climate Change and Natural Resources
- Appoint a cabinet-level Chief Secretary for Sustainability in the Treasury to co-ordinate government-wide action on climate change
- Revive the Green Investment Bank
- New statutory duty on all local authorities to produce a Zero Carbon Strategy including plans for local energy, transport and land use
GREEN PARTY
- Reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2030
- Provide nearly all of UK’s energy from renewable sources to by the end of the next decade, including 70 per cent of the UK’s electricity from wind
- “Transform” the planning system to support a “massive increase” in wind power and other renewable generation sources
- Work with the Crown Estate to open up more coastal waters for offshore wind and marine energy
- Ensure that long-term profits from these offshore renewable assets goes to the UK government and not energy firms
- Expand the UK’s short-term energy storage capacity, including heat as hot water in cylinders
- Double the capacity of the grid
- Make all new buildings comply with the Passivhaus or an equivalent standard in order to secure planning permission
- Replace gas boilers with renewable heat from heat pumps, and solar thermal, geothermal, biomass and stored heat technologies
- Improve the energy efficiency of 1m existing homes and other buildings a year to better than the Energy Performance Certificate A rating
- Install solar panels on 1m homes
BREXIT PARTY
A “political revolution” is promised by the Brexit Party, which opts for a “Contract With The People” instead of a “manifesto”. It includes policies to:
- Leave the EU and develop a clean-break Brexit
- Abolish the House of Lords and reform the Supreme Court
- Reform the voting system
- Make the Civil Service more accountable to the public
- Regional regeneration
- Scrap HS2 and invest in digital infrastructure
- Plant millions of trees to capture CO2
- Invest in the NHS and social care
- Zero rate VAT on domestic fuel
- Exempt from Corporation Tax companies with pre-profit tax of less than £50,000
- Provide transitional relief to key sectors such as the automotive industry, to ensure a smooth Brexit
- Create Freeports in certain regions to encourage investment and create new jobs
- Scrap the Apprentice Levy
- Change the funding model to make it easier for councils to borrow from central government to build houses