Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH NOVEMBER 2019 | 7 News and renewable energy installations would cut the UK's carbon emissions by just over a tenth, and average fuel bills by around £417 a year, the party claimed. Chris Hewett, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association, says Labour's ambition is "fantastic" but he is not yet sure how its plans will be implemented. "We've not yet seen evidence of specifics: rhetoric doesn't mean much unless you have policies that hit the ground," he says. While Labour has promised to plaster solar panels on every social housing tenant's home, it has been less forthcoming about how it will deal with the private renters and owner occupiers who live in the bulk of the nation's housing stock. Renationalisation And the big fly in the ointment for the indus- try, as far as Labour is concerned, is the par- ty's threat to renationalise the utilities. The party's manifesto position is to bring back the networks, including National Grid, under public ownership. But party confer- ence voted in September to go further, back- ing a motion calling for suppliers as well as networks to be renationalised. Pointing to the party's accompanying announcement to extend public ownership to new offshore wind farms, Jeffery expects Labour to go for broke on public ownership in this year's election. "To differentiate them- selves even more, I can see that envelope being pushed even further," he says. But reigniting the ownership debate risks creat- ing a distraction from the broader push to decarbonise the sector. In its 2019 "election manifesto", seen by Utility Week, SSE describes renationalisation of the grid as "highly disruptive" and warns it could "jeopardise further progress at a critical time in the transition to a low-carbon economy'. The energy policy in-tray was already full before the election announcement, says Jef- fery. "If there hadn't been an election, we would have had the energy white paper and the Treasury's net zero review, all with a view on COP 26, which [would have] really focused minds." To that list can be added the government's National Infrastructure Strat- egy, which would have been published this week if the Budget had gone ahead. The net zero review Last weekend saw the Conservatives burnish their green credentials with the launch by the Treasury of its long-promised net zero review with the remit of ensuring that the right balance is struck between economic growth and cutting emissions. The Tories can point to the government's move to accept the Committee on Climate Change's recommended 2050 net zero target. And Johnson personally signalled his com- mitment to this agenda by announcing that he would chair a Cabinet committee to over- see efforts to meet this goal. But McConachie points out that so far there are no details how this committee will operate. Hewett expresses concern that there is too much attention within government on the long-term goals rather than short-term action. He says: "The frustration with gov- ernment policy is that there is a lot of focus on net zero 2050 targets but what happens in the next ten years is very important." One area where this is particularly press- ing is the decarbonisation of heat. The last half of the 2017 parliament was meant to be about working out the best options in this area, which would then be implemented. The timing of this year's election means though that whoever is elected on 12 Decem- ber will not only have to take some big deci- sions in this area but will also have to start to implement them. "Things need to start rolling by 2023; it's absolutely essential," says Rob Dale, who heads the Hydrogen Connect agency. The importance of tackling heat goes beyond traditional energy policy into hous- ing, where progress on energy efficiency has been slow, says Black: "The govern- ment haven't had a comprehensive national energy efficiency policy in place since the Green Deal." There was some progress in this respect with the publication last month of updated dra¦ building regulations. But the latest set of changes are "still not enough," says Simon Markall, head of public affairs and engagement at Energy UK. He says the decision to scrap the introduction of the zero carbon homes standard in 2015 has held back efforts to improve the energy efficiency. An analysis by the ECIU of new govern- ment energy efficiency statistics, published last week, shows that just 1 per cent of the homes completed last year met the zero emissions standard that would otherwise applied had it not been scrapped. "We need to get serious. We need to start looking at new homes," says Markall. And while the focus is shi¦ing from electricity generation, there is still work to do. The "absolute acid test" of the Conserva- tives' commitment to decarbonisation will be whether the party drops its long-standing opposition to allowing onshore wind and solar power to compete in contract for differ- ence auctions, says Hewett. SSE's manifesto backs this stance and calls for 40GW of offshore wind to be deployed by 2030, one-third more than the government's existing target. And given the highly volatile nature of UK politics, where local dynamics will o¦en be crucial in determining how contests in indi- vidual constituencies pan out, another hung parliament can't be ruled out at the end of this campaign. Irrespective of whether this happens, McConachie is keen for the parties to resist the temptation to treat energy and climate change as a political football. "We need eve- rybody to be working together on this. We need action and we need to get on with it. Whoever is in control needs to work across the benches," she says. David Blackman, policy correspondent, Utility Week Corbyn: election is 'last chance' to stop climate change Johnson: will personally chair a net zero Cabinet committee

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