---

UK Government's Energy Policy

I would like to make some progress now. Many power stations are coming to the end of their lives; many are too polluting for modern standards. By 2018, we are going to see 16 power stations with a generating capacity of around 19 GW or some 25% of Britain’s total closing. This presents the UK with a challenge, and Wales with an opportunity to help fill the gap that it leaves. Over the next 10 to 15 years, £200 billion needs to be spent on new generation, transmission and distribution so that we can build secure supplies of low-carbon generation. This is a major investment, some of which is going to come to Wales. The starting point of energy policy must be energy saving: after all, the cheapest energy is the energy that we do not use at all. That is why the Government are taking steps to help households and businesses control their energy bills and reduce energy consumption through proposals such as the green deal. The potential of the green deal is not just in reducing energy use. There are big opportunities for our businesses—not only in the insulation industry, which in itself could quadruple in size within the UK, but in the supply chains across the country. The green deal proposals have the potential to unlock tens of billions of pounds of private sector funding in the coming years, and that means, as we all know, jobs and investment, which we need so badly in Wales. The development and take-up of energy efficiency measures will also offer the training and skills opportunities for Welsh workers that were referred to earlier. We are already benefiting from that. As the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent mentioned, the British Gas green skills training centre, which is the first in the UK, opened in Tredegar last year, creating 60 jobs. As I understand it, the centre will each year give green training to more than 1,300 people, including local long-term unemployed people. That will help to equip people from the area with the skills to deliver these emerging technologies in the communities where they live. The Government are determined to maximise UK growth, as we move to a green economy, by addressing the existing barriers to investment. We will listen to business on that. We are currently consulting on proposals that are designed to strike a balance between the best possible deal for consumers and giving both existing players and new entrants in the energy sector the certainty that they need to invest.