Rudd’s energy strategy reset to ‘rethink’ climate goals: reports

Energy Secretary Amber Rudd is poised to deliver a major speech outlining the strategy of her department which will ‘rethink’ climate change obligations against their cost to the consumers.

Both the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph report that the energy policy reset will take place this week, with Rudd set to level criticism against her Liberal Democrat and Labour predecessors while calling for new generation capacity and a reduction in subsidy handouts.

The Sunday Times reports that Rudd will hint at “a rethink on the government’s commitment to combatting climate change” because “spiralling subsidies” for renewable energy have left consumers shouldering unacceptable costs.

According to the Sunday Telegraph Rudd is expected to say that from now on, policies will balance “the need to decarbonise with the need to keep bills as low as possible”.

The Telegraph says that Rudd’s speech will insist that “energy security has to be the first priority. It is fundamental to the health of our economy and the lives of our people.”

At the same time, Rudd has said that the UK must move away from older coal-fired power stations which are increasingly unreliable to new gas fired power capacity. Reports earlier this year suggested that the government may act to remove all coal-fired power by 2023.

But replacing coal capacity, which contributes 23 per cent of the UK’s power, with gas-fired plants will require further handouts, Rudd will admit, because the wholesale market has become distorted by increasing subsidy payments to renewables.

Think tank energy analyst at Policy Exchange Richard Howard told the Telegraph that the energy policy reset would not herald “a complete change of direction” for energy policy.

Rudd has already acted to cut subsidies paid through the Renewables Obligation and Feed in Tariff scheme and has signalled that consumer costs are key.