New Energy Bill Aims at Pushing UK Towards a Low Carbon Economy

The latest energy bill that has just been announced aims at pushing the UK towards a more low carbon economy. This new energy bill includes a £9.5 billion levy on electricity suppliers to fund four demonstration carbon capture and storage coal power plants. The levy is known as the CCS Incentive, and it was announced just last week by energy secretary Ed Milibrand as he outlined plans for some fast track major energy infrastructure projects. These projects did include wind farms, nuclear power stations, and coal plants.

Right now only two of the four demonstration projects, the ones from E.ON and Scottish Power, are proceeding to the next stage of the CCS competition. The shadow energy secretary, Greg Clark, just last week said that he supported Miliband’s energy plans. However, he did go on to criticize the government for the delay on energy policies that have led to a last minute scramble to reach the 2014 deadline.

The bill also goes on to include provisions to establish a mandatory social price support scheme in order to help more of the most vulnerable households with their energy bills. It also aims at strengthening the power of regulator group Ofgem to defer market abuse.

The climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, said that the bill would ensure that consumers could be more confident that British energy is sustainable and secure. He went on to say that carbon capture and storage is going to be the key technology in tackling climate change. The bill comes just 18 days ahead of crucial talks in Copenhagen.