SNP wants ‘joint oversight’ of Ofgem

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has called for the Scottish government to have “joint oversight” of the UK’s energy regulator Ofgem.

In its general election manifesto, launched on Monday morning, the SNP states that Holyrood should have an influence over how the energy regulator is run.

This follows recommendations made by the Smith Commission in November, which stated that Ofgem should lay its annual report before the Scottish parliament and appear before its committees.

Speaking as she unveiled the manifesto, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon also said that her party would “vote for action on energy bills” and back Labour’s proposals to give the regulator new powers to force the energy suppliers to cut bills to reflect lower wholesale prices.

This could help smooth the way for a confidence and supply arrangement between Labour and the SNP. However, one stumbling block could be Labour’s promised price freeze, which was opposed by SNP MPs in a Commons vote in April last year.

The SNP added that it would also help to cut energy bills by pushing for the Energy Company Obligation to be funded through general taxation rather than as a levy on customer bills.

The manifesto reiterated the SNP’s support to change the transmission charging regime, which it claims is “penalising Scottish generators and threatening the future of Longannet power station”.

The SNP calls for more support for the offshore wind industry by proposing that the next contracts for difference allocation round is conducted early and prioritises projects in Scotland.

The party also calls for the UK government to provide more support for the offshore oil and gas industry in the light of lower global oil prices, and that the SNP continues to support a moratorium on fracking.