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The chancellor made difficult decisions to put our public finances on a more sustainable footing. With debt interest spending expected to reach £120 billion this year, the UK must get back to living within its means. But it is equally important that we address the root cause of this borrowing – the energy crisis – by building the cheapest sources of new clean energy.
The chancellor rightly said that clean energy is the way to protect households from global gas markets. But the truth is that we are not implementing this strategy as sincerely as we could. Onshore wind is now among the most popular and cheapest sources of domestic energy. However, it is almost impossible to build a new onshore wind farm in England. Under current planning rules, an objection from just one resident can stop a development in its tracks, leaving us all paying more for our electricity every month.
Some of my colleagues will doubt me when I say that onshore wind is the vote winner. They will remember when turbines were springing up across the country and local communities were sometimes forced to host the expensive technology against their will. But things have changed: 73 per cent of those who voted Conservative in 2019 support onshore wind near them. Wind turbines are, after all, a symbol of the fight against climate change, which is now consistently in the top five issues for voters.
There are also fundamental economic and national security reasons for rethinking our policy. Weak growth in the UK and excessive public borrowing are caused, in large part, by catastrophically high energy prices. The reason for the increase in European energy costs is Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent reduction in gas exports to Europe. By expanding our own domestic energy supplies, we will burn cheaper gas, protect ourselves from malicious dictators who manipulate global gas markets, and achieve greater energy sovereignty.
We all benefit from reducing our reliance on gas. The price of gas doesn’t just affect those with boilers, it also increases electricity bills because of how much we rely on it to generate electricity. This increases the price of food and makes our production impossible. Building more onshore wind farms means we need fewer gas plants operating at full capacity, freeing up gas for heating and industry.
But while there are broader societal benefits, I believe that those who host the new infrastructure can and should benefit disproportionately. I welcome Octopus Energy’s scheme which offers people a £350 discount on their energy bills and innovative tariffs if they live near onshore wind farms. This approach could be the key to unlocking local support for similar new projects.
This is not an overnight solution to the energy crisis. The pipeline disappeared due to years of planning restrictions. It will take several years for companies to launch projects and start producing energy. But we have a duty to start building a low-cost, clean energy system that can fuel long-term economic growth.
Not every village or town will want turbines in their vicinity. We should not return to the old system of imposing unwilling communities. But also, it is not right to have a top-down veto. That is why I tabled an amendment to the Equalization and Regeneration Bill. Ministers are being asked to update national planning guidance to allow onshore wind farms to be built where there is community support. I invite my colleagues to support it.
I am concerned that we are not being honest with people about the costs of not building infrastructure. We cannot on the one hand complain about our reliance on expensive imported energy and then not allow cheap, clean, safe energy to be built here in England, even where people are asking for it. I hope that ministers can start to rectify this by freeing up onshore wind.
Simon Clarke was Secretary for Level Up
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