Neil O’Hara said that if the government is not able to rescue UK Coal, which announced the closure of the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire and Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire in the next 18 months, the UK’s energy security and current prices would be “potentially threatened”.
With 40 per cent of the UK’s electricity coming from coal, O’Hara warned that a failure to save UK Coal could lead to prices for consumers and businesses increasing.
He said: “The impact on energy security and energy prices could be disastrous and particularly unfortunate after the country has worked so hard to pull our economy out of recession.”
O’Hara welcomed actions by the government to try and rescue UK Coal after Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC “If I can help, I will help.”
Energy secretary Ed Davey told the House of Commons “we will do everything we can to help”.
However, energy minister Michael Fallon warned that the support for UK Coal would not be limitless.
He said: “Any proposal for taxpayer support would have to show good value for money and it would have to be for a clearly defined period.”