Responding to the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change speech, Energy UK’s chief executive, Dhara Vyas said:
“It was good to hear the Prime Minister reiterate the Government’s clean energy ambitions. The energy industry welcomes a commitment to building for the future because of the economic benefits this could bring to all parts of the country through investment, growth and job creation along with increasing our energy security.
“It’s also true that meeting this ambition means overcoming several formidable challenges and that without action on these, it will take longer to reap the rewards as well as increasing costs. The Prime Minister’s speech identified the planning system as one of those and it was welcome recognition of the necessity of streamlining the process for building crucial infrastructure – something that will support the acceleration of domestic sources of clean power. A clean power system includes the necessary expansion of other established and emerging clean technologies, including storage and flexibility.
“Alongside tackling the blockers to progress, we must keep the focus on improving things for customers. Increasing our own sources of energy will help protect customers from volatile bills and this must be accompanied by a plan for long term, targeted support for households who can least afford to pay. Improving the energy efficiency of homes and buildings, as well as helping people to switch to cleaner and ultimately cheaper ways of heating and travelling in order to make best use of clean power, is vital.”