John Cridland, CBI director general, has spoken out on last week’s publication of the Energy Bill, in which the government announced by 2020 energy companies can add a total of £7.6bn to household bills to help pay for new power plants and windfarms.
The government hopes allowing providers to add to household bills will give them the confidence to invest heavily in ‘clean power’, without which they may be unwilling to invest such huge sums of money. Energy-intensive industries, however, could be exempt from the extra costs of the move to renewable energy.
Cridland said: “Energy-intensive manufacturing is finally getting its place in the sun today, by the exemption from necessary new energy costs. This is vital for such companies to play a key part in our low-carbon economy and it is good news that the government has listened to our calls to build in support at this early stage, which will ensure we reap the full economic benefits at the earliest opportunity.
“Equally important is the welcome boost the Bill gives to investor certainty. It will be crucial for investors to see the momentum kept up in Parliament so that the Bill can get onto the statute books as quickly as possible.
“The next vital debate is to decide how to improve energy efficiency and deliver real benefits to the economy. The current policy landscape is too complex, so we will look forward to seeing how today’s electricity demand reduction proposals can move us towards a simpler, more strategic approach.”
I would be very interested to hear your views.
