The Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) today welcomed the Conservative party commitment to reduce energy subsidies. The Conservative Party’s Energy Green Paper released today, and the strategic summary is promisingly entitled Rebuilding Security: Conservative Energy Policy for an Uncertain World.
Over the last five years, Renewable Energy Foundation has consistently drawn attention to the looming capacity crisis in electricity, with its over-commitment to gas because of the unintended consequences of the renewables policy, and the very high cost of the subsidy mechanisms being offered to speculative investors in renewables.
The Conservative party’s major statement on energy policy makes laudable and promising attempts to address these matters and many others.
The Foundation is particularly pleased to see that the Conservative Party is anxious to ensure that the consumer is not faced with unreasonably high prices for clean secure energy, and is committed to reducing subsidies (Rebuilding Security, p. 26).
Dr John Constable, Director of Policy and Research for REF said:
“Subsidies in the energy sector have distorted investment patterns and left the UK with a dysfunctional and unbalanced electricity sector, as well as imposing disproportionate and rising costs on the consumer. The fact that the Conservatives have grasped this bull by the horns without losing sight of the need for clean, secure, energy is to be welcomed. Translating this intention into workable policy will require hard work, but this is a very promising statement of intent.”