Statements on clauses 272 and 273 made by Energy Bill Committee members
Below are statements made by some of the members of the Energy Bill Committee in regard to clauses 272 and 273 to enable more community energy. These clauses brought forward the ideas of the Local Electricity Bill, which is supported by a cross-party group of 323 MPs. The Energy Bill committee stage took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of June and will be followed by Report Stage, which gives MPs an opportunity, on the floor of the House, to consider further amendments to the Energy Bill.
“Does the Minister accept that the wording inserted in the Bill by the Lords reflects the exact same wording of a private Member’s Bill—I think it is the Local Electricity Bill—that more than 120 Conservative MPs previously pledged to support?”
Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, Labour
“The national regulatory authorities believe that the Local Electricity Bill, or the alternative in the form of clauses 272 and 273, needs to be in place to facilitate the trading of the electricity that would be generated. That is why I fully support the clauses’ retention in the Bill. […] The cross-party group of peers who drafted clauses 272 and 273 to mimic the effect of the Local Electricity Bill again tried to address the Government’s concerns. I fail to understand why the Government are still against the two clauses. It is worth pointing out that 323 MPs overall, including 128 Tory MPs—let alone myriad local authorities, environmental groups and individuals—have supported the Bill.”
Alan Brown, MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, SNP
“It is a real shame that the Government intend to strike clauses 272 and 273 from the Bill, not least because all we seek is surely for smaller generators that their investment is worthwhile.”
Andrew Western, MP for Stretford and Urmston, Labour
“This is about local community energy, which takes a number of forms, being able to get projects off the ground, sustain itself, and take its place with all the other energy producers—some very large, some regional and some very small—in the national landscape. If such schemes are undertaken properly, collectively, they provide quite a lot of our energy. […] The clauses in this group are a way—I agree that they are not necessarily the only way—to make sure that community energy enterprises can work well in local communities because they ensure that enterprises will know that they will have a market for their electricity once the project has been developed.“
Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton, Test, Labour
“I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the importance of community energy schemes.”
Katherine Fletcher, MP for South Ribble, Conservative
“On community energy, I am really disappointed that the Government want to remove clauses 272 and 273. The Bill could have been an opportunity to help community groups deliver useful schemes that could have provided the clean and green energy that we all want. Sometimes those things happen at a better rate at a local level. We know that a lot of delivery will happen through local authorities, as well as local groups and schemes.”
Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield, Hallam, Labour
The Parliament Under Secretary of State for the Department for Energy and Net Zero, Mr Andrew Bowie MP, responded to the comments made by MPs with a more positive response from the Government:
“The Government believe it is more beneficial to the community energy sector for the Government to continue our approach to help local authorities and community energy groups to work together to develop funding for projects across the net zero agenda, with funding from existing sources such as UK growth funding schemes. […] We continue to look at what more the Government can do to support community energy projects across the United Kingdom, and I will commit to provide an update on the next steps ahead of Report [stage].”
Andrew Bowie MP, as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
These clauses were removed in an 8-5 vote, which we expected. With the Government’s commitment, we look forward to their planned proposition to help community energy groups flourish during Report Stage commencing next week.