Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and James Wild

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

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

10. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce industrial electricity prices.

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

Industrial energy prices doubled under the previous Government and industry suffered, as did consumers, when wholesale prices rocketed at the start of the Ukraine war. The best way to secure bills for the long term—for industry, as well as for consumers—is to deliver clean power by 2030. The truth is that the Tories ran down our energy infrastructure, just as they ran down our road and rail infrastructure and our public services. We are rebuilding that infrastructure, making it more secure for the long term and less reliant on foreign dictators, thus giving us energy independence, good jobs and cheaper bills.

[James Wild]

Growing the economy will need cheaper energy, but INEOS’s chief executive has warned that Labour’s crippling carbon taxes and other levies threaten UK manufacturing and make us more reliant on imports. When will Ministers start listening and realise that their dogma-driven energy policy is costing jobs and investment, and when will they actually act to make our electricity prices more competitive?

[Sarah Jones]

As UK Steel said recently, the main driver of the price disparity is the wholesale electricity cost, which is driven by the UK’s reliance on natural gas. The best way to secure bills for the long term is to deliver clean power by 2030, and that is what we are doing.