Short-term populism is the “most dangerous enemy” for energy and climate change policy, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said today as he warned against exploiting the issue in the run-up to the general election.
He urged those opposed to competition in the energy market in the Labour Party, the anti-renewables brigade in the Tories and those historically against nuclear power to resist these tendencies.
In his annual statement, the Liberal Democrat minister said: “I urge members from across the House to cleave to the consensus we have achieved.
“That is the best way to keep energy bills down, to keep the lights on and to keep our pledges to our children to tackle climate change.
“Despite political differences, energy policy has enjoyed a high degree of cross-party consensus over the last decade or so. That’s crucial for the long-term investment decisions energy infrastructure needs.
“Of course there remain differences between the parties. An anti-competitive approach towards the energy market in parts of the Labour Party, and an anti-renewables, anti-wind tendency in parts of the Conservative Party, and all parties have members with a history of opposition to nuclear power.
“But it is imperative that these tendencies are resisted, particularly in the run-up to the general election.
“Short-term populism is the most dangerous enemy energy and climate change policy has.”
Mr Davey also urged international co-operation to protect against the “increasing threats” by Russia to use energy supplies as a weapon.
He said: “It is vital we co-operate internationally to help our allies especially in eastern and central Europe and the Baltics, many of whom are highly dependent on energy imports from Russia.
“But it is also vital that we remember how fortunate the UK is to have such diversity in its oil and gas supplies. So we should not turn our back on the shale gas opportunity.
“For as we decarbonise our economy, we will still need large amounts of oil and gas in the next three decades for heating and transport.”
The implementation of the Wood Review to maximise economic recovery from the North Sea remained an “urgent task”, he added.
Mr Davey said the country had faced an “energy crisis” in 2010 as a result of under investment in energy infrastructure and too little competition within the market.
The Coalition had “turned this situation around”, he went on, and succeeded in cutting fuel poverty by more than 100,000 in England alone.
By 2020 household energy bills were estimated to be on average £92 lower than “if we just sat on our hands and did nothing”, he said.
But he also insisted more needed to be done, including continuing to build a diverse lower carbon energy mix, predominantly home grown, to ensure the UK is not over-reliant on one particular fuel or source.
There were also projects in the pipeline to more than double the country’s electricity interconnector capacity by the 2020s, he said.
These include another link to France, with a cable in the Channel Tunnel, and a link to Norway’s hydropower capacity with what would be the longest subsea cable in the world.
Mr Davey also used his speech to announce the appointment of Andy Samuel as the chief executive of the Oil and Gas Authority.
Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint said she hoped Mr Davey’s “curious” statement would be the last one he made and that she would be in his place come next year.
She said he looked very “satisfied” with himself in contrast to consumers, families and businesses.
The Labour frontbencher went on: “Consumers worried about how they are going to afford their energy bills this winter aren’t satisfied with this Government.
“Families living in cold and draughty properties – they are not satisfied with the Government.
“And businesses – people who want to invest in this country, create jobs here and put us at the cutting edge of innovating new forms of clean energy – they are not satisfied with this Government either.”
She also criticised Mr Davey’s “panicked response” to Labour’s price freeze policy announcement – “sweeping cuts” to the Energy Companies Obligation, the Government’s flagship policy to help those on low incomes heat their homes.
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