Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH MARCH 2020 | 11 This week Legal bid aims to overturn energy NPS Government is urged to review planning policy statement for energy infrastructure projects Ecotricity's founder, Dale Vince, is backing a legal bid to force the government to review the planning policy statement that underpins new energy infra- structure projects. Vince, along with two other listed claimants, wants the government to re-examine the Energy National Policy State- ment (NPS) on the grounds that it does not reflect recent shi-s in the UK's climate change policy and international commitments. These include the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent reports, the 2015 Paris Agreement, the government's adoption of the net-zero emissions target and the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The letter setting out the claim states that the NPS, which has not been reviewed since 2011, is being used to push through fossil fuel-powered developments. It cites as an example former energy secretary Andrea Leadsom's approval in October 2019 of Drax's application to build a gas-fired generating unit against her planning inspector's recommendation that it should be rejected. Justifying her decision, Leadsom said the "significant adverse impact" from the greenhouse gases the plant would emit should not override the presumption in favour of granting consent for energy projects enshrined in the NPS. The letter cites statements in the NPS, such as the "vital role" that it identifies for fossil fuel power station developments in the UK's energy mix, as proof that it is out of line with current policy. The two other claimants are the Good Law Project Limited and Guardian columnist George Monbiot. DB ENERGY Call for councils to set standards locally Council leaders and mayors across England have joined Sadiq Khan in urging the govern- ment to allow local authorities to set higher energy-efficiency building standards than those in place nationwide. In a cross-party letter, co-ordinated by the UK Green Building Council, the mayor of London and fellow local author- ity chiefs call on the govern- ment to scrap a move to restrict local planning authorities from setting higher energy-efficiency standards for new homes. Signatories include Andy Burnham and Andy Street, may- ors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands respectively. The restriction was proposed by the Ministry of Housing, Com- munities and Local Government as part of an update to build- ing regulations, including the introduction of a Future Homes Standard, on which a consulta- tion recently closed. The letter to Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for hous- ing and local government, states that councils must "act urgently" to deliver on carbon reduction targets. Many local authorities have declared climate emergencies and set targets for their areas to become carbon neutral ahead of the UK as a whole. "Local leadership is central to achieving the government's commitment to net-zero carbon," the letter says. "Restricting local powers would be entirely out of keeping with this." WATER Water sector sets out routes to net-zero Specialists advising the water sector on its goal to reach net- zero carbon emissions by 2030 have said collaboration will be needed within and beyond the industry. Consultants Mott MacDonald and Ricardo have set out the following options for companies to consider: • Reducing emissions of meth- ane and other gases caused by wastewater treatment processes. • Putting in place cutting-edge systems to manage energy. • Increasing self-generated renewables. • Purchasing green electricity from low-carbon sources. • Providing biogas to the energy grid. • Rolling out electric and alter- native fuel vehicles. • Moving to electric-powered construction equipment. One of the project leaders, Ian Behling, said: "The work we've done so far in developing the route map has highlighted the ambition shown by companies and the scale of the challenge. It has also highlighted the need for collaboration within and beyond the water sector." Vince: the NPS does not reflect current policy Policy & Regulation The government could siphon off a large chunk of the revenues from increased carbon prices to improve the energy efficiency of fuel-poor households, accord- ing to a report from the London School of Economics' Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. The Distributional impacts of a carbon tax in the UK report examines the impact on different earning households of raising the carbon tax to a level that ENERGY Carbon tax rises 'could fund energy efficiency drive' is consistent with the target of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050. It says increasing the tax to £50/tonne of carbon dioxide this year, rising to £75 by 2030, would generate £57 billion worth of revenues over the next dec- ade. The carbon tax is currently fixed at £18/tonne. The report recommends that around one-third of this revenue (£18.8 billion) could be used to compensate fuel-poor house- holds by upgrading their prop- erty's energy efficiency, thereby ensuring they are not out of pocket as a result of the higher tax. In addition, compensat- ing poorer households to cover increases in energy bills arising from the carbon tax would avoid transitionary periods before energy efficiency improvements are implemented. The report, which was produced in conjunction with consultancy Vivid Economics, says: "Using 33 per cent of rev- enues for energy efficiency can ensure fuel-poor households are not adversely affected by carbon taxation." Without such mitigation measures, it says a carbon tax, which hikes the cost of fuel, would be "regressive" and hit low-income households dispro- portionately. A further £8.2 billion could help to finance efficiency meas- ures for the remaining house- holds, which are not fuel poor.

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