UTILITY WEEK | OCTOBER 2022 |
5
KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING
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Two years to make a
lifetime of diff erence
Last month's announcement of an unprecedented state intervention on household bills
seemed set to be front page news across the country.
Given the magnitude of the support, with estimates ranging between £120 billion and
£150 billion, and the fact that every household will be a• ected, there was really only one
other story that could eclipse it.
Of course the passing of Queen Elizabeth II meant that scrutiny of the government's
measures was immediately overlooked by most of the media while those of us trying to € nd
answers were met with a wall of respectful silence.
Towards the end of the month the government did provide further details on crucial
areas, such as how support for businesses would be allocated (see Review p6). There were
also belated references to support for energy eƒ ciency, although as we set out on p12-13, this
still does not seem to be suƒ ciently ambitious.
New prime minister Liz Truss also used the announcement to pledge an acceleration of
the UK's path to energy independence, saying this would be achieved by 2040.
This ambition is judged as "probably just about achievable" by the Climate Change Com-
mittee, whose head of carbon budgets said it would require "pulling all of the levers" (see
analysis, p8-9).
Among those levers is a massive expansion of renewable generation, including the
onshore solar and wind farms so reviled by the prime minister and her energy secretary. It
is still not entirely clear how willing they are to backtrack on their previous beliefs, despite
some promising signs around streamlining the planning process.
They may well feel that political U-turns are now a prerequisite for high oƒ ce but there
is also cause for optimism in the prospect of them outsourcing their principles. While the
appointment of Jacob Rees-Mogg as business and energy secretary dismayed environmental-
ists, the choice of Graham Stuart, who is an advocate of immediate action on net zero, as
climate minister was cheered. Equally encouraging was the decision to put former energy
minister Chris Skidmore, who led e• orts during the Tory leadership campaign to ensure that
candidates stuck to the 2050 target, in charge of a net zero review.
Government's support on bills is to be welcomed as a bold and meaningful intervention,
and the fact that is was packaged amid promises to ensure we "get the energy market back
on track" is also encouraging.
The support to billpayers has bought us two years. But to achieve Truss's promise to
ensure we are "never in this position again" there is a huge amount to do and there simply
is no time to waste. We must not allow ourselves to look back in winter 2022 and realise we
squandered this chance for fundamental reform.
James Wallin, editor, jameswallin@fav-house.com
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