The Conservative Party is set to break its promise to end their
ban on onshore wind by the end of April, as new analysis from
Carbon Brief has shown that the total cost of Rishi Sunak’s
refusal to end the ban England and Wales is costing British
households a staggering £5.1bn per year on their energy bills,
equivalent to £182 per household per year.
Onshore wind is one of the cheapest, quickest forms of power
available, but has consistently refused to
overturn the ban on new onshore wind projects that was brought in
by the Conservatives in 2015, putting the interests of his party
backbenchers before the national interest. Last September, the
then Energy Secretary, Jacob Rees Mogg announced plans to end the
ban and bring its planning regime in line with other
infrastructure.
In December 2022, promised that the Conservative
Government would introduce planning reform that would “enable us
to move away from “overly rigid” requirements on onshore wind” by
the end of April 2023, but since then, no significant action has
been taken.
This ban destroyed the market for onshore wind projects, with
project approvals falling 97%. Since 2015, only ten onshore wind
projects have been consented for development in England and only
three are actually operating. There are also currently hundreds
of projects waiting to go that received planning permission
before the ban but are being blocked by the Tories.
Labour would reverse the ban on onshore wind, so the British
people can reap the benefits of cleaner, cheaper power. Labour’s
plans to expand clean power are part of Keir Starmer’s commitment
to make the UK a world-leading clean energy superpower by 2030,
which would cut bills by £93bn for British families.
This landmark plan will slash energy bills for good, create
hundreds of thousands of good jobs, and make the UK energy
secure, while providing global leadership in tackling the climate
crisis. Labour’s plan to deliver a zero-carbon electricity system
by 2030 is an ambitious but achievable target that would make the
UK the world’s first major economy to do so.
A Labour Government would work with local authorities across the
country to unleash the power of onshore wind, ending the
Conservatives’ draconian ban imposed from Whitehall, which is
costing families and businesses thousands of pounds on their
bills.
MP, Labour’s Shadow Climate and Net Zero Secretary,
said:
“Every household in Britain is paying higher energy bills because
of Rishi Sunak’s staggering failure to end the onshore wind ban.
“The Conservatives have artificially inflated energy bills, and
make the UK’s energy system dependant on fossil fuel dictators,
because they ludicrously oppose cheap, clean power for our
country.
“Labour would end the onshore wind ban so the British people can
reap the benefits of cheaper power.
“Only Labour can cut energy bills for good and make us energy
secure, with our plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower
by 2030, and GB Energy - our publicly-owned national champion
that will produce cheap, clean power in Britain, for Britain.”
Ends
Notes:
- Carbon Brief analysis shows that if
onshore wind had continued to be built at the same rate as it was
in 2017 (after which the effect of the 2015 ban started to bite
on new developments), 7GW of onshore wind would have been built
and would now be generating cheap, clean electricity. In the year
from July 2022 to June 2023, the cost of this missing onshore
wind is £5.1 billion, or £182 for each of the UK’s 28 million
households.
- Since 2015, onshore wind has faced
a uniquely restrictive planning framework, requiring unanimous
consent and a requirement on Local Authorities to proactively set
out in their Local Area Plan areas where they would like
prospective onshore wind farm developments to be. 89% of Local
Authorities failed to allocate any areas, making onshore wind
impossible in those locations.
- The UK’s energy bills are £9.8bn
higher than they would have been if had not undertaken his
suite of policies to “cut the green crap” in 2015.
