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Energy secretary Amber Rudd has defended the capacity market, revealing it will cost about £10 per household per year to pay for backup power, including diesel and coal power.
Speaking to the House of Commons yesterday, Rudd said the capacity market, for which the second auction was performed late last year, “will ensure energy security will never be a question in this government.”
Rudd said: “The capacity market is specifically designed to ensure that energy security is not negotiable. The Government take energy security very seriously. Because of the lack of investment in energy infrastructure over the past decades, we needed to ensure that the capacity market is in place to ensure that we do not have any problem at all with energy security. Diesel will form a part of the future, but only in very small amounts. Let us remember that it is there as back-up and will be switched on occasionally when it is needed.”
The energy secretary was responding to a question from shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy, who said: “Last month, the Secretary of State agreed to hand out hundreds of millions of pounds in new public subsidies to diesel and coal power generators through her capacity market scheme. Will she tell the House by how much family energy bills will rise as a consequence?”
When pressed on the sum, Rudd replied: “It will cost a few pounds – under ten pounds.”
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