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Energy Bill

My Lords, I welcome the new clauses. The Bill has been immeasurably improved in the Lords. The amendments are welcome particularly in Woking, a town in Berkshire which has been at the forefront of the introduction of alternative renewable and sustainable energy technology developments. I shall say a few words on the relevance of Woking to the proposed government scheme. From an environmental perspective, Woking Borough Council is undoubtedly the most energy-efficient and energy-conservation-conscious local authority in the United Kingdom. I advise noble friends to visit Woking to see for themselves this exemplar in the field of green energy technology. The town and its surrounding community should potentially be a major beneficiary of this initiative by the Government through their investment in photovoltaics, which is considerable, and the proposed investment in wind power as and when sites are identified. I was able during the Recess to visit many of the town’s projects under the auspices of John Thorpe of Thameswey Energy, a British company which has brought together in a joint venture the local authority and ESCO, a Danish company which specialises in green technology. The company is spearheading the national agenda of community-based energy initiatives in every area of energy efficiency, including combined heat and power. The company also provides green-sourced energy to other local authorities, public bodies and the private sector. Its virtual private wire electricity distribution arrangements for local power consumption point the way forward in a way that should interest many local authorities nationally which want to develop their energy efficiency programmes and which, one hopes, will take advantage of the Government’s proposed scheme when it comes on stream. While I congratulate the Government, I also congratulate Woking on its ability to harness cross-party political support for what can only be described as an outstanding achievement. I only hope that the Minister will feel able to join me in paying tribute to those in the town for their work. It is clear from my most recent discussions with those involved in Woking is that they believe that feed-in tariffs will give renewed stability in a market that they are constantly developing. Such stability is required if we are to meet our 2020 targets. I say to the Government, well done.