Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Energy Costs and Charges

21 November 2023 · 4 other contributors · 3,607 words

Opened by Kenny MacAskill Alba East Lothian

Responding minister: Amanda Solloway

HousingEnergy

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Kenny MacAskill raised concerns about energy costs and charges in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Scots are paying more for electricity despite exporting significant amounts to England.
  • Scotland exported 35 TWh of electricity to England in 2021, expected to rise to 124 TWh by 2030.
  • More than a third of Scottish residents are in fuel poverty, with nearly a quarter in extreme fuel poverty.

Key requests to Government

Will the Minister direct Ofgem to abolish standing charges or at least equalise them across the UK? Additionally, will she ensure that there is a social tariff for vulnerable households this year?

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Kenny MacAskill Alba East Lothian

Scots are paying more for electricity despite Scotland producing a significant portion of the UK's renewable energy. In 2021, Scotland exported 35 TWh of electricity to England and this is expected to rise to 124 TWh by 2030. However, no financial return is received for this resource. Furthermore, there are efforts to take Scottish-produced energy directly south without payment, exacerbating the issue of fuel poverty in Scotland where more than a third of residents have been assessed as being in fuel poverty and almost a quarter are in extreme fuel poverty.

Other contributors (4)
  • Carla Lockhart DUP Upper Bann

    Carla Lockhart highlighted that small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Ireland are paying nearly 10p per kW more than their counterparts in the EU or rest of the UK, arguing this places them at a competitive disadvantage compared to businesses across borders.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Commends the hon. Gentleman for bringing the debate forward and suggests a joint strategy is needed for all of the UK, highlighting Northern Ireland's desire to advance like Scotland.

  • Richard Foord Lib Dem Honiton and Sidmouth

    Richard Foord questioned whether the £40 billion subsidy provided during the cold winter would have been necessary if home insulation efforts had continued at the pace set before 2015.

  • Sarah Dyke Lib Dem Glastonbury and Somerton

    Expresses concern over high fuel poverty rates in rural areas, particularly off-grid homes reliant on alternative fuels. Calls for accelerating deployment of renewable power, providing more funding, and removing Government restrictions.

Government Response

Amanda Solloway

I thank the hon. Member for East Lothian for his passionate and informative speech. The Government have provided almost £40 billion of energy bills support through different schemes from October 2022 to address the wholesale energy price challenge caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. For households in fuel poverty, we have targeted support such as a £150 reduction off energy bills through the warm home discount scheme, which has been extended to around 3 million households. We are looking at ways to make the warm home discount more flexible and help respond to future increased pressures on consumers' bills. Ofgem published a call for input last week to look at how standing charges are applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered. The Government cross-subsidy scheme provides an annual cross-subsidy of some £112 million to the north of Scotland, reducing the electricity distribution charge for a typical household in that area by more than £60 a year. For projects based in Scotland, developers follow the Scottish Government's offshore energy good practice principles when creating community benefit packages. The consultation on proposals for community benefits has closed and we intend to publish a response as soon as we can. Historically, customers on prepayment meters have paid higher standing charges than direct debit customers; however, Ofgem is due to announce shortly how it will create an enduring replacement for the scheme so that prepayment meter customers will no longer pay an unfair premium once and for all.

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