Proposals to force UK consumers to subsidise renewables in an independent Scotland, and buy back energy to keep the lights on, have been branded “wrong-headed” and “unworkable”.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael claimed the plans outlined in the white paper, Scotland’s Future, represented another example of the SNP thinking they can hold on to the benefits of the UK without being part of it.
The MP for Orkney and Shetland said there was no guarantee that the rest of the UK would buy green energy from Scotland since more nuclear power stations could be built south of the border.
But Caithness, Sutherland and Ross SNP MSP Rob Gibson claimed the UK minister had blundered by showing he had “very little knowledge about the damaging effect” of the UK Government’s policies on Scotland.
He said it was the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition’s “obsession” with nuclear power which was pushing up energy prices, and claimed lower energy prices were likely after independence.
The white paper says: “The continuation of a system of shared support for renewables and capital costs of transmission among consumers in Scotland and the rest of the UK is a reasonable consideration for meeting the UK’s ongoing green commitments.”
Referring to the policy, Mr Carmichael said: “This is another nice example of thinking that you can hold on to the benefits of the UK while not being part of it and it is wrong-headed.
“Scotland gets something like 30% of all subsidies that come from UK consumers going into renewables and the only way to ensure that continues is to remain part of the UK.
“If you are not part of the UK there is no guarantee that the rest of the UK in the future would necessarily make the same energy choices.”
Mr Gibson claimed only a Yes vote in the referendum would allow Scotland to “truly harness the power of its fantastic natural resources”.
“The real question Mr Carmichael should be asking is why, under successive UK governments, a country as energy-rich as Scotland has such unacceptably high energy prices in the first place, and lack of consistent support from Westminster for clean energy production,” he added.
His colleague, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, said: “Scotland already provides over a third of the UK’s renewable electricity generation and, with tightening capacity margins, the rest of the UK will continue to rely on our enormous renewable energy resources to meet its targets and maintain energy security.
“The secretary of state’s remarks take no account of the massive subsidies to nuclear power that he has agreed to, including £35billion for Hinckley Point (in Somerset) alone.”
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