As the dust barely settles on a seismic election result attention now turns to how Labour will govern, where we will see the status quo and more importantly those areas of change. The proof ( as always ) will be in delivery but there is a clear difference in the manifesto commitments for the utility sector and its worth exploring these in more depth ahead of the expected appointment of Ed Miliband as Energy Secretary. Clean Power by 2030 - Delivery here is challenging, the target to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030 will drive a rapid acceleration in core infrastructure delivery. This is time critical and should form part of the day one activity. Great British Energy - HQ in Scotland with a capitalisation of £8.3 Billion to drive investment including a Local Power Plan to unlock a greater distributed basis for energy production. Energy System Reform - Expect changes on standing charges to remove the burdens taken for wider investment, tougher regulation to put customers first and focus on unlocking the needed changes in transmission to support net zero. Warm Homes plan - Doubling energy efficiency investment to £6.6 billion to target 5 m homes. Insulation, solar, batteries and Heat Pumps will feature here, with a notable linkage to the growing private finance market in this space. Stds for rented properties will also be targeted for 2030. Accelerating net zero - Look to mandate Uk regulated financial institutions to develop credible plans that align with the 1.5 C Paris Agreement. Water - Focus on using the tools of regulation to drive improvements including putting companies under special measures. What other areas should we expect to see change? comment below for any i've missed! You can find Labour's Energy Manifesto here :- https://lnkd.in/eiwexGBG
A great and hugely appreciated post Alex Atkins, especially as I work in the energy sector. Some great commitments have been made and they key as you say is in the delivery and correctly prioritising pledges from day one. I have hope for change and is time progresses I am hoping this will turn into confidence.
Energy expert - Retail and Networks Team, Heat lead, Baringa
2moLooking forward to hopefully seeing the tightening of the minimum energy efficiency standards coming in for rental properties! It’s reassuring to see their commitment to improving the UK housing stock. Over 16m people live in properties in GB with an EPC lower than EPC C, we must see action to improve this. Not only does this create an opportunity for green jobs which will help the economy, but very importantly it will have wider societal benefits too with a positive impact on health and wellbeing, which could save the NHS billions £’s!