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Energy secretary Ed Davey has defended the Energy Bill, saying it will give investors the certainty they need.
In a letter to the Independent, Davey added “the Energy Bill WILL make the UK’s electricity supply green”, despite the government not committing to set a decarbonisation target in 2014.
The energy secretary once again stated that it makes sense to set a decarbonisation target in 2016, once the fifth carbon budget has been set.
He also wrote: “In any case, we’re already bound by law to cut emissions across the whole UK economy by 50 per cent by 2025, and the Energy Bill will bring about substantial decarbonisation of the power sector as part of that.”
Hitting back at critics who claim not setting a decarbonisation until 2016 fails to provide investors with certainty, Davey said the strong cross-party consensus behind the bill should give investors “huge confidence”.
This follows the voting down of an amendment, tabled by Energy and Climate Change Committee chair Tim Yeo and Labour’s Barry Gardiner, to get a decarbonisation target set by 1 April 2014, by 290 votes to 267.
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