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UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH OCTOBER 2017 | 11 Policy & Regulation Policy & Regulation electricity companies, adding that the pub- lic purse would benefit from £1.5 billion per annum in dividends, while customers would indirectly benefit from a £1 billion annual saving on borrowing costs. And the public ownership message is resonating with the public, judging by the results of a new report published at the end of last week by the Legatum Institute, a right- leaning think tank. This showed that 83 per cent of the public back renationalisation of water, while 77 per cent support bringing back both electricity and gas into state ownership. The task of turning these loy goals into hard policy falls to Labour's seasoned energy spokesman Alan Whitehead. But while Corbyn has trumpeted that Labour is ready for government, details are still scanty about how the party would carry out its ambitious pledges. Whitehead's focus remains on his vision of a radically reformed energy market, acknowl- edging that Labour only supports a £1,000 cap on fuel bills as a stop-gap solution. He said Labour wanted municipal energy companies to take control of the whole gamut of the energy system incorporating generation, transmission and supply. And he suggested that the challenge of creating a more decentralised gas grid would be eased by how the underlying infrastruc- ture had been developed by local utilities before the Second World War. The South- ampton MP pointed to Bristol as an example of how it may be feasible to seal off this pre- war infrastructure to create local grids. But while an enthusiast for a more decen- tralised energy system, Whitehead's vision contains space for a continued National Grid, which he said would remain "abso- lutely essential" for transmitting energy from the nuclear plants and the offshore wind- farms proliferating off the UK's coastlines. "It needs to be there as a public good to hold things together." Mason agreed: "If we have offshore clean wind power we will need a gational grid and for it to be publicly owned." And Whitehead was alive to concerns that a decentralised system would need to be carefully thought through in order to avoid some areas being le behind. But he acknowledged that it would take a lot of parliamentary legwork to introduce the changes needed to unpick the central- ised system that the existing energy system is based on. Whitehead will be seeking answers to some of these questions as he prepares to set out on a "green tour" of the UK, along- side former Labour MP Alan Simpson, who is advising John McDonnell on energy issues. Long-Bailey said Whitehead and Simpson would be seeking evidence from local busi- nesses, unions and co-operatives about prac- tical measures that will be needed to be put in place in a more localised energy system. Utilities will be hoping that the door will be open to them, too. Rebecca Long-Bailey, BEIS shadow secretary "Climate change commitments are not a gentlemen's agreement that we can renege on when we feel like it. We have a duty to leave a better world to future generations." John McDonnell, shadow chancellor of the exchequer "Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail – we're taking them back." Alan Whitehead, shadow energy minister "We want to see cities in control of a whole range of activities: generation, transmission and supply." Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party leader "Of the nine water companies in England, six are now owned by private equity or foreign sovereign wealth funds. Their profits are handed out in dividends to shareholders while the infrastructure crumbles, the companies pay little or nothing in tax and executive pay has soared as the service deteriorates." Lord Adonis, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission "If you have intelligent policy, we could get both radical and rapid electrification of transport and heat without requiring new generating capacity." WHAT WE LEARNED AT THE LABOUR PART Y CONFERENCE 1. Driving down carbon emissions is core to Labour energy policy. It proposes publicly-owned, municipal energy companies should become the driving force behind deployment of renewable energy sources. 2. Labour remains committed to "taking back control" of energy and water utilities and insists renationalisation would be affordable. 3. Labour still advocates a £1,000 cap for annual domestic energy bills, but says this would only be the first step in a wider-ranging reform of the market. 4. Labour backs nuclear power for a clean economy – Corbyn's nuclear concerns relate to military applications. Public support for public ownership 83% of the public support the idea of renationalising the water sector 77% of the public support the idea of renationalising the electricity and gas networks Source: Legatum Institute