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Planning and Energy Bill

I agree with my hon. Friend, but it is a case of the chicken and the egg. The problem is that we have a housing shortage. Should we make that harder to resolve through these measures or not? In an ideal world, we would deal with both issues, but we do not live in an ideal world, so I am concerned about the potential impact of the Bill. In many ways, Sweden is a much better society than ours, buts its population is smaller and more cohesive for a variety of reasons. New clause 8(a) and (b) mention"““the cost of energy from renewable sources””" and"““from low carbon sources””." It is therefore important to tell the House what the price differentials for customers can be. They vary from company to company and from region to region. British Gas has three tariffs, and the additional costs for a typical consumer vary from between £20 and £84 a year. Scottish and Southern Energy told me that a typical consumer would pay some £19.50 a year more, E.ON said it would be some £17 and EDF Energy said that it would be £14 more on one tariff and £44 on the other. One wonders why anybody would want to be on the second tariff, but presumably there is a reason. In any event, there are cost consequences for the homeowner from the requirements of the Bill. That information was provided by Energywatch. The costs of generation are also greater. Average generation costs will give the House some idea. Onshore and offshore wind generation costs between 1.2p and 4p per kWh above conventional generation costs. That includes the emission trading scheme. Offshore wind alone can cost between 30 per cent. and 90 per cent. more. So when it comes to the cost of microgeneration, whether in a local authority scheme as we discussed earlier, or to the consumer, the Bill has a price tag attached. We have to consider on Third Reading whether the country is prepared to pay that price, insofar as the Bill affects new developments.