Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce household energy bills.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

18. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce household energy bills.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

21. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce household energy bills.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Gentleman asks an important question. The reason why we decided to put the money into the crisis and resilience fund three weeks after this crisis began was to get the money out the door quickly. During the previous crisis, that took 200 days. He asks an important question about local authorities’ provision of support and also what happens if they do not have the funds. That is something on which we are working intensively, and we are keeping closely in touch with local authorities. We want the help to go to those who need it and we want to work with local authorities to make sure that that happens.

[Charlie Dewhirst]

The latest wind auction has signed us up to sky-high prices for the next 20 years, but Ministers are claiming that their internal analysis proves that this will bring down bills. Will the Secretary of State publish those calculations in full so that we can see exactly how prices will be lowered?

[Ed Miliband]

We published the levelised cost analysis, which showed that new renewables were much cheaper to build and operate. As gas prices are soaring across the world and hitting us here at home, the idea that the Conservative party still opposes our renewables auction, which gives us clean home-grown power on which we can rely, is absolutely nonsensical.

Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I do not recognise those figures at all. I would be interested to see where she got them from—perhaps from her Twitter threads, which contain things that we do not quite recognise. We inherited a mess in this country—no stability or economic growth, and stagnation. We are fixing the foundations and putting that right. We will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the growing green sector of the future.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)]

We are already seeing the benefits of our energy superpower mission and investment in jobs. Since the start of November, we have seen a £1 billion investment in Hull by Siemens Gamesa, supporting 1,300 jobs in blade manufacturing. Ørsted has announced £100 million of orders for UK firms, and we have reached financial close on the UK’s first carbon capture in Teesside. That is what it means to have a Government delivering jobs and investment for the British people.

[Charlie Dewhirst]

There appears to be inconsistency between what Ministers are saying about the report by the National Energy System Operator and what the CEO of NESO told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee last week. Can the Secretary of State answer this clearly: does the NESO report forecast higher or lower energy bills under his policy?

[Ed Miliband]

I am very glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked that question, as the shadow Secretary of State has asked me about that. [Interruption.] I will answer the question. Page 77 of the NESO report says very clearly what happens to overall costs in the system: electricity costs are reduced by £10 per MWh. As NESO says, it is for Government to make policy choices that determine the precise impact on bills, but the report is clear that the system will be cheaper. It is completely logical to say that that will lead to a reduction in bills.

Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Sarah Jones)]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. Of course, we and the Opposition have fundamentally different views. We believe in an industrial strategy that will help to deliver our supply chains. We believe in Great British Energy, and we believe in a sovereign wealth fund, which so many other countries have and the previous Government failed to deliver. We will make sure we have resilient supply chains that create jobs, deliver energy security and maximise the economic benefits of the transition.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

T7. What guarantees can the Secretary of State give to steelworkers in Scunthorpe that the grid connection required for a new electric arc furnace will be ready on time next year?

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Gentleman raises a very important issue that I am afraid was not solved by the last Government. We are working at pace with National Grid, and I am sure the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), will be happy to talk to him further about the work we are doing.