Brearley stresses importance of local net-zero targets

Local net-zero emissions targets, set by councils, are “incredibly important”, Jonathan Brealey has said.

Speaking at an online event this morning (4 September), held by the Electricity North West, the Ofgem chief executive said the energy regulator is committed to work with councils which have set more demanding emissions reduction targets than the 2050 UK-wide benchmark.

He said that local targets, such as those set in Greater Manchester and Glasgow, are “incredibly important.”

“We absolutely accept there are very different needs and ambitions in different parts of the country. This is fundamental to what we are trying to achieve.

“There will be some difficult trade-offs, particularly where an addition in one place means costs in another but Ofgem comes at this with spirit of wanting to unlock the pathway to net zero and wanting to do this in ways that align with ambitions.

“We should work to try and find a way to deliver that.”

However, Greater Manchester MP Lucy Powell told the same event that the conurbation’s target to hit net zero by 2038 may have to be adjusted in the wake of the economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Reiterating that commitment in the context of the economic crisis we are in is a really good thing but it needs some adjusting because we need to look at the context of jobs, poverty and viability.

“There are big challenges for how this agenda for net zero can work for the poorest in society and not be something that makes that more of a challenge for those that live in fuel poverty,” she added, pointing to how the coronavirus crisis has already hit lower wage workers “disproportionately”.

Also speaking at this morning’s event, Committee on Climate Change board member Professor Keith Bell questioned Electricity North West chief executive Peter Emery’s forecast that an increase in electric vehicle use would fuel an upsurge in power demand.

In his opening remarks at the event, Emery said the anticipated growth in EV numbers would double the existing level of electricity demand.

But Bell, who is also professor of smart grids at Strathclyde University, said he is “not sure” that this would happen, given that most vehicles can be an important source of flexibility as they are parked 90 per cent of the time.