Energy Bill

I want to make a small contribution to Third Reading. First, I welcome the Bill. The Government are to be applauded for the steps that they are taking in it, as carbon capture and storage is a crucial area. I applaud the fact that they are pushing ahead with this agenda in this country, and I know from my personal involvement that they are also actively arguing the case in other countries, in particular the US. The UK is showing a crucial bit of evangelical zeal in persuading others that we need to embrace this technology as part of the mix. I also welcome the measures on fuel poverty. I will not rehearse the arguments contained in my ill fated Bill of last Session, other than to say that I wish that the Government had embraced it. However, these measures are, once again, a step in the right direction, and I am pleased that at least some requirements are being put on the energy supply companies. If I may say so, however, the Bill contains a big lacuna with regard to the fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas used by people who live in rural areas such as the one that I represent. The continuing problem is that the people who can least afford it have to pay the most for the most expensive fuel, and we need to address that. My final point has been touched on by others. This Bill is part of getting the whole mix right, especially in the encouragement that it gives to all forms of renewable forms of energy, but there are still inconsistencies in the Government's approach. I was a strong supporter of feed-in tariffs: I believe that it was right to introduce them and I am pleased that the Government finally adopted them, but I want to say a word on behalf of one small group of people engaged in renewable energy generation in my constituency. They use micro hydro to generate electricity and power. They often bring historic buildings back into use, but they are faced with a feed-in tariff system that involves a microgeneration certificate scheme that is wholly impractical and which in fact acts as a deterrent. Only this week, I had a message from one of them to say that they get 12p per kWh at the moment but that, as a result of the feed-in tariff, they will get only 9p. I honestly do not think that reducing income by 25 per cent. is a good way to encourage people down a path that we want them to take. I would very much welcome an opportunity to see a Minister about that in the near future, if at all possible. I would like to bring along a group of the people engaged in micro hydro, so that the Government can understand their problem and make sure that their arguments are understood.