New Secretary of State Ed Miliband outlined his priorities in a message to staff following his appointment. Read it here 👇🏽 Dear Colleagues, Earlier today, I was delighted to accept the Prime Minister’s invitation to serve as the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. I wanted to write to you personally to say what an honour and a privilege it is to have been appointed to this position. I am inspired to have the chance to lead the department and work with you all. The reason I’m so excited to have been appointed to this role is because it speaks directly to the twin passions that continue to motivate me. First, resolving the economic inequality that scars the country, and second tackling the climate crisis that imperils our world. Our department will be at the heart of the new government’s agenda, leading one of the Prime Minister’s five national missions, to make Britain a clean energy superpower with zero carbon electricity by 2030, and accelerating our journey to net zero. Families and businesses across the country are still struggling with energy bills that are too high and are expected to rise again in the autumn. In an unstable world, the only way to guarantee our energy security and cut bills permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. The job of our department will be to deliver our mission so we can make the UK energy independent, bring down energy bills for good, create good jobs, and tackle the climate crisis. We will get started right away, and my priorities are: - Delivering our mission to boost energy independence and cutting bills through clean power by 2030. - Taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy. - Upgrading Britain’s homes and cutting fuel poverty through our Warm Homes Plan. - Standing up for consumers by reforming our energy system. - Creating good jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, including a just transition for the industries based in the North Sea. - Leading on international climate action, based on our domestic achievements. In line with the Prime Minister’s approach, this will be a mission-driven department, mobilising citizens, businesses, trade unions, civil society and local government in a national effort, where everyone has a role. Having been the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2008-10, arriving at the Department feels like coming home. Back then, I saw first-hand the brilliant work that civil servants do and I know how hard you have worked on behalf of the country in the years since. The civil service is one of Britain’s great institutions and I look forward to working with you to change our country for the better. Yours sincerely, Ed Miliband Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Alex Bartho
3mo
Good message and worthy goals, but for many generation/storage industry professionals there is a general feeling that these policy objectives are very light on detail of how Labour will build on the already existing momentum of the industry. What will GB Energy actually do? Is it just Green Investment Bank mk2? Is it a developer, a generator, a supplier? How will the government address the massive grid connection capacity shortage, with new connections now almost ubiquitously post-2030? If the government is not proposing anything radical, how can they meaningfully contribute to their 2030 green superpower target? Or are they just relying on coasting on current momentum in that direction? What will this Government do differently from the last to encourage new technology development (long duration storage, tidal power, hydrogen full cycle generation, etc)? How will the next 5 years differ from how they would have looked under their predecessors, a change in planning policy for onshore wind (which will realistically bite mostly post-2030) aside?
Sandy Leonard
3mo
If you could look into interest free loans for people to utilise for things like Solar & Energy storage. We had this in Scotland until last year, it was a very successful scheme that thousands of people took up to give them much more efficient and affordable homes. If not interest free loans, loans capped at a low interest rate would still be a good thing. 🌍
colin duff
3mo
The climate crisis that imperils our world ,energy independent, clean power by 2030, just transition for the industries based in the North Sea, The "only" way to guarantee our energy security and cut bills permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. Looking forward to all of this by 2030
Colin Simpson
3mo
Good list of priorities. Would love to see the warm homes plan address new builds. It makes no sense to me that we still build housing estates with gas connections when for a home insulated to current standards a heat pumps is a lower carbon, energy efficient, cost effective solution. Would also love to see follow up on actions to address the spark gap. Even a small step, to add 1p to gas price taxes and reducing 4p on electricity taxes, would be cost neutral for the average house, but would cut the price ratio from ~4.2 to 3. It creates a much stronger incentive for homeowners to switch from gas boilers to heat pumps.
That’s sounds like a good start…. 👍🏻
Sarah Baker
3mo
Excellent news but we need decisions fast before we lose skilled workers and local supply chains trained and developed through years of retrofit schemes. There is a looming deadline at 31 March 2025 and we need some clarity over what happens next for local government retrofit programmes urgently.
Chris Lewis
3mo
I'm interested to see how you will bring practical and cost effective heating and cooking to buildings that have challenging installations, such as our own flat. We have public paths front and back, and live in Scotland, so air heat pumps are a challenge, and ground heat pumps a non-starter, so is an accelerated hydrogen rollout the answer? I think if we can focus on the exceptions to the rule, then we can solve most issues. Don't take any of this as a negative, as my job is Sustainability Manager, it is more a case that I'd like to see some real proof of focus and drive towards net zero rather than just words.
Bill Senior
3mo
Ed Miliband Please set a low carbon building standard for the new homes and buildings that have been announced. Highest standards of insulation, no gas boilers, mandated solar panels and EV chargers,etc. Joined up policy needed here.
Gone fishing. at Gone fishing.
3moScotland, having been told by labour & tory parties for the past thirty years that Scotland’s Oil & Gas reserves were so depleted that they were more of an economic burden than an economic bonus, to being told now by these same people that every drop of oil will be extracted from existing and new fields, gives rise to much scratching of puzzled heads in Scotland? Were we lied to, for thirty plus years? There is even mention of a sovereign wealth fund based on Scotland’s abundance of fossil fuels and renewables, I wonder where this latest incarnation of snake oil salesmen got that idea from? This is what happens to countries who don’t mange their own resources, someone else will do it for them and rest assured the profits and benefits will flow out of the country!