King’s Speech: Planning reform and grid investment boost, but energy independence headwinds persist
Reacting to the Energy Independence Bill which was announced in today’s King Speech, Sheena McGuinness, Co-head of Energy and Natural Resources at RSM UK, said: “Greater consumer protection including regulating energy brokers and third-party intermediaries will help to tackle unfair practices, but accelerating “homegrown” renewable energy is key to reducing our dependency on overseas energy supplies and, in turn, mitigate price volatility risk.
“Reforming market, planning and regulatory frameworks to accelerate not only the deployment of clean power but vital grid infrastructure investment is at the heart of the Bill which is crucial to enable sustainable change.
“However, we cannot just turn off the fossil fuel tap as this will spike imports further. We need the right energy mix to manage the transition effectively so introducing Transitional Energy Certificates could help to bridge the gap, but sticking to the manifesto commitment of no new North Sea licences continues to limit domestic production.
“What is needed is a considered plan that brings together the right energy mix that sustains demand and reduces the UK’s over-reliance on gas and its impact on the electricity pricing, while renewable investment, production and grid connectivity improves.”