Green Energy

  • The Conservatives need a stronger energy policy

    The belief that energy should still be an expensive commodity for the average consumer in the UK is beginning to look like a fallacy. As more investment goes into green technology and it’s ever more evident that we’re not going to be reliant on oilfields for our source and supply in the near future, the only option is lower prices.

    This is our way out of a binding infrastructure of high charges and abusive pricing that’s lasted many conflicts and wars and has not been resolved by much international effort.

    A campaign poster showing Conservative aims and ambitions for cheaper energy (Credit: The Conservative Party/LinkedIn).

    The homegrown energy production that’s promised by new energy developments proves that pricing can be resolved in a much more local forum than before. It also shows that energy is not centralised or concentrated on particular countries but is now becoming a potential for any country.

    The Conservatives are often at the forefront of arguing that a statement of affairs is not necessarily a firm fact of the matter. And yet, it struggles to come out with a firm guarantee that lower prices will become a reality for every consumer.

    The UK now has a sort of energy production capacity that is sovereign and independent of other states. Because it’s green it’s also reliant on more local conditions and is less of a subject of controversy for people overseas. This is our only option to exit a punitive and cruel international market. It’s only problem is how far party’s are willing to invest in it.

  • Westminster Week: Power plays

    Wednesday

    Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) berated the Prime Minister for his lack of policies to lower energy prices.

    “Pensioners are poorer and colder because of his decisions. All the while, energy has got more expensive for everyone”

    However, Sir Keir Starmer MP (Holborn & St Pancras/Labour) is resolute his Net Zero policies will do it nicely.

  • GB Energy must deliver on its promises

    The Labour government’s fervour to capitalise on green energy took a new turn yesterday. The new board of GB Energy held its first meeting to inaugurate its role in the UK-based industry.

    However, its mission to “own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK to create good, skilled jobs and growth” says little to us on lower prices for its low cost generative capacity.

    This omission in government communications is radio silence on the anxiety many feel. The high energy prices at present drain the budgets of the population as quango’s fund their lifestyles.

  • Gas prices drive concern in UK

    A natural resource is seen as a private commodity, to be sold and purchased on international markets. Just as coffee, rice, and sugar fluctuate in price, so natural sources turned to energy do the same. There’s no guarantee energy prices will decrease.

    Ed Miliband MP (Doncaster North/Labour), the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, has touted a letter he wrote to Ofgem on global gas price rises. He writes it to seek protection for UK consumers as financial difficulties press on people.

    “Britain remains highly exposed to these global gas markets, including to generate power and heat our homes, which means this increase in wholesale prices will feed through into the price cap that you announce for April 1. Once again, the British people and British businesses will face the consequences of fossil fuel markets we do not control.”

    In spite of a rapid increase in generating green energy in the UK, there’s little to suggest prices will actually decrease for UK bill payers. It’s in the genome of UK business executives to see it as an energy market worth playing for than one worth paying for.

  • Labour’s affordability crisis

    In recent years, the issue of energy pricing has come to the fore in a major way. It’s been on the agenda because of higher prices for ordinary consumers, the type of people who need to heat their homes to keep themselves warm in cold weather, and winter months.

    The climate crisis is also leading to an energy crisis, such as pricing that locks people out of powering their homes to a sufficient level. It means some switch off heating, while others manage their usage using schedules, and look out for discounts here and there.

    The agreements at COP29, and the plan set forward by Labour for achieving our targets as a nation, are lacking in the resolution of this crisis. It’s known formally as a “cost of living” crisis, but it’s more important to see it in terms of affordability, and its knock on effects.

    The innovation of green technology has led to a surge in the generation of wind, solar, and hydro power, but it hasn’t meant cheaper prices. The promise of such development has been energy security, and much lower rates, but this has not yet been delivered at scale.

    Instead, the new Labour government has continued a line of argument that promises new, smaller-scale installations in people’s homes, without delivery of the much cheaper power from our green energy infrastructure, including wind, solar, and hydroelectricity.

  • Is a green future close?

    Ed Miliband MP (Doncaster North/Labour) has said green energy production on a large scale in the UK is possible by 2030. It raises hopes of lower prices, and less reliance on other states.

    As the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, he needs to be the optimist. It’s the public who have to wait, and the prospect of such a development at such a speed feels out of reach.