Tom Greatrex

Labour (Co-op) - Former Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West

First elected: 6th May 2010

Left House: 30th March 2015 (Defeated)


Tom Greatrex is not a member of any APPGs
Shadow Minister (Energy)
7th Oct 2011 - 30th Mar 2015
Procedure Committee
26th Jul 2010 - 30th Mar 2015
Shadow Minister (Scotland)
8th Oct 2010 - 7th Oct 2011
Energy and Climate Change Committee
12th Jul 2010 - 2nd Nov 2010


Division Voting information

Tom Greatrex has voted in 851 divisions, and 6 times against the majority of their Party.

23 Feb 2015 - Serious Crime Bill [Lords] - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 28 Labour Aye votes vs 178 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 201 Noes - 292
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 69 Labour Aye votes vs 138 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 241 Noes - 256
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 66 Labour No votes vs 139 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 267 Noes - 233
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 46 Labour No votes vs 126 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 205 Noes - 228
7 Sep 2011 - Health and Social Care (Re-committed) Bill - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 11 Labour Aye votes vs 208 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 118 Noes - 368
15 Jun 2010 - Backbench Business Committee - View Vote Context
Tom Greatrex voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 29 Labour No votes vs 83 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 100 Noes - 331
View All Tom Greatrex Division Votes

All Debates

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
David Mundell (Conservative)
(32 debate interactions)
Lord Lansley (Conservative)
(22 debate interactions)
Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton (Conservative)
Foreign Secretary
(18 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department for Work and Pensions
(64 debate contributions)
Scotland Office
(57 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(51 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(44 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Tom Greatrex has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
View all Tom Greatrex's debates

Rutherglen and Hamilton West Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Tom Greatrex has not participated in any petition debates

Latest EDMs signed by Tom Greatrex

25th February 2015
Tom Greatrex signed this EDM as a sponsor on Wednesday 25th February 2015

CITIZENS ADVICE SCOTLAND'S FAIR ENOUGH? EMPLOYMENT CAMPAIGN

Tabled by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - None)
That this House welcomes Citizens Advice Scotland's Fair Enough? employment campaign which aims to help employees assert their rights and remind them of the laws which protect those rights; commends the detailed report accompanying the campaign which outlines the common unfair employment practices that Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) clients have …
27 signatures
(Most recent: 16 Mar 2015)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 8
Conservative: 1
Independent: 1
Plaid Cymru: 1
View All Tom Greatrex's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Tom Greatrex, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Tom Greatrex has not been granted any Urgent Questions

2 Adjournment Debates led by Tom Greatrex

Thursday 30th January 2014
Monday 22nd April 2013

Tom Greatrex has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Tom Greatrex has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
50 Other Department Questions
19th Mar 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many start-up loans have been awarded since the introduction of that scheme in (a) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, (b) South Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK; and what the total value is of those loans.

Set out below are the number and value of Start Up Loans awarded for the UK, Scotland, South Lanarkshire and the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency (up to the 28th February 2015).

Loans awarded

Value

Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency

30

£96,365.09

South Lanarkshire

70

£208,891.41

Scotland

1,193

£4,408,809

UK

27,034

£140,814,749

19th Mar 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the oral Answer of 19 March 2015 from the Minister of State for Energy, when he plans to publish the advice he has received on the effect on security of supply of the potential closure of Longannet.

National Grid expects the market to provide enough generation to meet demand and maintain system stability in Scotland – even if one or more major fossil fuelled plant closes. The system operator and transmission owners in Scotland (National Grid, Scottish Power Transmission and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission) have stress tested scenarios in which Longannet and other Scottish fossil fuelled generators closed. National Grid has the tools to secure supplies under even the toughest system conditions, and the network is resilient against 1 in 600 year risks.

National Grid has published the advice that it provided to the Secretary of State and the Scottish government on this issue on their website this week. This information contains a description of the scenarios that have been tested, ‘A day in the life’ which shows that Scottish demand was secure on a low wind, high demand day, even if two large fossil fuelled power stations had not been available and an open letter providing reassurance on the status of electricity supply in Scotland:

http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Services/Balancing-services/System-security/Transmission-Constraint-Management/Transmission-Constraint-Management-Information/.

20th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per kWh of gas in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) each English region in each year since 2010.

Regional gas bills, based on fixed consumption levels are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, table 2.3.3 and table 2.3.4:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics

Annual UK gas prices by PES (Public Electricity Supply) Region in pence kWh

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

East Midlands

3.74

4.06

4.52

4.78

4.92

Eastern

3.73

4.08

4.55

4.84

5.00

London

3.83

4.20

4.67

4.97

5.21

Merseyside & North Wales

3.78

4.11

4.55

4.87

5.04

North East

3.74

4.08

4.50

4.80

4.92

North Scotland

3.69

4.06

4.51

4.75

4.98

North West

3.78

4.11

4.55

4.83

4.99

South East

3.78

4.14

4.61

4.87

5.04

South Scotland

3.69

4.06

4.51

4.80

4.97

South Wales

3.80

4.13

4.61

4.87

5.05

South West

3.76

4.10

4.59

4.86

4.97

Southern

3.75

4.13

4.61

4.93

5.13

West Midlands

3.79

4.15

4.61

4.91

5.03

Yorkshire

3.76

4.11

4.52

4.81

4.98

Great Britain

3.76

4.11

4.57

4.86

5.02

Data above are based on a fixed annual consumption of 15,000kWh in each year.

20th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per kWh of electricity in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) each English region in each year since 2010.

Regional electricity bills, based on fixed consumption levels are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, table 2.2.3 and table 2.2.4:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics.

Annual UK electricity prices by PES (Public Electricity Supply) Region in pence kWh

Region

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

East Midlands

12.0

13.3

13.9

14.7

14.9

Eastern

12.1

13.3

13.9

14.8

14.9

London

12.7

13.5

14.2

15.1

15.5

Merseyside & North Wales

12.8

14.1

14.9

16.0

16.7

North East

12.2

13.1

14.0

15.1

15.5

North Scotland

13.1

13.8

14.9

16.2

16.8

North West

11.9

13.4

14.2

15.2

15.7

South East

12.2

13.1

13.8

14.9

15.3

South Scotland

12.9

13.8

14.3

15.2

15.2

South Wales

13.3

14.1

15.0

15.9

16.4

South West

12.9

14.0

14.8

15.8

16.3

Southern

12.7

13.3

14.0

15.1

15.4

West Midlands

12.2

13.4

14.2

15.1

15.5

Yorkshire

11.9

13.1

14.0

14.9

15.3

United Kingdom

12.5

13.5

14.3

15.2

15.6

Data above are based on a fixed annual consumption of 3,800kWh in each year.

20th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the Rate of Return on Equity for each of the Distribution Network Operators under Distribution Price Control Review 5.

Ofgem are responsible for regulating the electricity Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and the setting of the price control review. Ofgem’s latest estimate for the Rate of Return on Equity for each of the DNOs is in the attached table which covers the years 2010-11 to 2013-14. The last year of Distribution Price Control Review 5 (2014-15) is still on-going.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate has been made of the number of (a) Fast Reserve, (b) Short Term Operating Reserve and (c) BM Start up Reserve services triggered by National Grid from units in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in each month since July 2010.

The Department does not hold this information. It is the responsibility of National Grid as System Operator to procure enough reserve for the system overall, and procure any system services which might be required for real-time balancing of the system. Further details on these services can be found at:

http://www2.nationalgrid.com/uk/services/balancing-services/.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of gas meters and (b) mean annual gas consumption per meter in each local authority in each year since 2010.

Statistics on the number of gas meters and mean annual gas consumption by local authority for each year since 2005 can be found on the DECC website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/gas-sales-and-numbers-of-customers-by-region-and-local-authority.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of elecricity meters and (b) the mean annual electricity consumption per meter in each local authority for each year since 2010.

Statistics on the number of electricity meters and mean annual electricity consumption by local authority for each year since 2005 can be found on the DECC website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/regional-and-local-authority-electricity-consumption-statistics-2005-to-2011.

2nd Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of officiating the 13th onshore oil and gas licensing round; and how much his Department recouped from the sale of licences in that round.

The 13th onshore oil and gas licensing round was held in 2008. A review of the time spent considering 13th Round applications by staff involved in oil gas licensing estimated that the resource cost to the departmental had been £86,180.

Licences are not sold, but there is a fee for applications. Licence application fees for the 13th Round totalled £60,000.

29th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the level of gas consumption by (a) consumers and (b) all gas users was in each month of 2014.

The Department publishes natural gas consumption statistics on a quarterly basis back to 1998 here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388417/et4_1.xls

The level of gas consumption by final consumers for 2014 (up to and including provisional data for Q3 2014) is:

(GWh)

2014

2014

2014

1st quarter

2nd quarter

3rd quarter p

Final consumption

184,427

86,567

58,973

Iron & steel

1,492

1,385

1,293

Other industries

28,786

17,930

15,209

Domestic

120,684

45,558

24,391

Other final users

32,065

20,294

16,680

Non energy use

1,399

1,399

1,399

The total level of gas consumption by all gas users, including transformation etc. for 2014 (up to and including provisional data for Q3 2014) is:

(GWh)

2014

2014

2014

1st quarter

2nd quarter

3rd quarter p

Total demand

253,938

154,565

136,149

Transformation

53,996

53,715

64,335

Electricity generation

46,455

48,519

60,030

Heat generation

7,541

5,197

4,305

Energy industry use

13,485

12,638

11,194

Losses

2,030

1,645

1,647

Final consumption

184,427

86,567

58,973

Iron & steel

1,492

1,385

1,293

Other industries

28,786

17,930

15,209

Domestic

120,684

45,558

24,391

Other final users

32,065

20,294

16,680

Non energy use

1,399

1,399

1,399

Provisional data for quarter 4 2014 will be published on Thursday 26 March 2015 at 9.30am.

29th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per GWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month of 2014.

DECC do not produce monthly estimates of gas and electricity costs. A monthly index of the price of domestic gas and electricity is published by the Office for National Statistics as part of their Consumer Price Index. This series is an index with 2005 prices = 100.

Electricity

Gas

Jan-14

199.9

250.7

Feb-14

200.4

251.3

Mar-14

199.8

250.5

Apr-14

198.6

249.4

May-14

198.6

249.4

Jun-14

198.6

249.4

Jul-14

198.6

249.4

Aug-14

198.6

249.4

Sep-14

198.6

249.4

Oct-14

198.6

249.3

Nov-14

198.6

249.3

Dec-14

198.6

249.3

In 2014 DECC estimates that the average price of electricity was 15.57 pence/kWh based on annual consumption of 3,800 kWh/year, with the average price of gas 5.02 pence/kWh based on consumption of 15,000 kWh / year.

29th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he plans to publish an update to the sub-national total final electricity consumption statistics.

The sub-national electricity consumption statistics for 2013 were published on Thursday 18th December 2014 on the DECC website. A summary report highlighting the key statistics can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-national-electricity-and-gas-consumption-summary-report-2013.

5th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the amount of electricity transferred (a) from Scotland to England and (b) from England to Scotland on each day from 21 December 2014 to 7 January 2015.

Information for the time period requested is not available.

5th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much electricity was produced by (a) onshore wind, (b) offshore wind, (c) solar, (d) hydro, (e) nuclear, (f) coal and (g) gas in each of the constituent parts of the UK from 21 December 2014 to 7 January 2015.

Information for the time period requested is not available.

5th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of electricity consumption in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland from 21 December 2014 to 7 January 2015.

Information for the time period requested is not available.

5th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of the Under-Secretary of State in the Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee on 4 December 2014, Official Report, column 7, when the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West will receive correspondence responding to matters raised regarding the capacity market and demand-side reduction for nuclear.

The hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West will receive a letter shortly responding to matters raised at the Delegated Legislation Committee session on the 4 December 2014.

5th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate she has made of the mean wind speed in each constituent part of the UK in each month of 2014.

Based on data from its network of wind observing stations, the Met Office’s estimate of mean wind speed in each of the constituent parts of the UK in each month of 2014 is shown in the following table:

Mean wind speed (knots)

Month (2014)

UK

England

Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

January

11.0

10.2

12.2

12.2

10.3

February

13.7

12.9

16.4

14.5

13.0

March

10.5

8.9

10.3

13.4

10.1

April

9.1

7.9

8.4

11.1

8.8

May

8.0

7.7

8.5

8.4

7.4

June

6.6

6.1

6.6

7.4

6.5

July

7.4

7.0

7.3

8.1

6.9

August

9.2

8.4

9.6

10.4

8.6

September

6.2

5.5

5.8

7.6

5.3

October

10.6

9.1

11.9

12.6

9.9

November

8.2

7.5

8.9

9.3

7.8

December

11.3

10.1

12.5

13.3

10.1

17th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what constraints there are on the carbon emissions of fossil fuel plant falling beneath the 20MW threshold.

Several Government policies apply. These include the Climate Change Levy (CCL), Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) and the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). In addition, this Government has introduced the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) to further encourage business energy efficiency.

17th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 212486, when he expects the assessment of the applications received under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing round to be completed; and when he expects to set a date for announcement of the award of licences.

The assessment of the applications is ongoing. We hope to be able to announce licence offers in the early part of 2015.

11th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of prepayment meter customers who self-disconnected at least once in each year since 2010 and (b) total number of prepayment meter customers in each year since 2010.

The Department does not hold information on the number of pre-payment meter customers who self-disconnected.

10th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the dispatch period required to increase capacity at (a) nuclear, (b) combined cycle gas turbine, (c) open cycle gas turbine and (d) coal-fired power stations.

A report by independent energy consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff commissioned by this Department considers the flexibility of coal and gas power technologies:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-assessment-of-the-operation-of-coal-gas-fired-plants.

The table below contains information from the report and shows indicative start up times for coal, existing and modern gas combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) and large and aero-derivative open cycle gas turbines (OCGT):

Technology

Notice to Synch* (mins)

Synch to Full Load (mins)

Hot Start

Coal

Existing Gas CCGT

Modern Gas CCGT

Gas Large OCGT

80-90

15

15

2-5

50-100

35-80

25

15-30

Warm Start

Coal

Existing Gas CCGT

Modern Gas CCGT

Gas Large OCGT

300

15

15

2-5

85

80

-

15-30

Cold Start

Coal

Existing Gas CCGT

Modern Gas CCGT

Gas Large OCGT

360-420

15

15

2-5

80-250

190-240

190

15-30

All Starts

Gas (Aero) OCGT

2-5

4-8

*‘Notice to Synch’ is the period of prior notice that a power plant requires to be able to start up the plant to the point of synchronisation.

The current nuclear fleet is not specifically designed for load following and generally plants will operate at their full nominal load. Plants that are offline for maintenance or refuelling will not usually be available to come back on line rapidly as there are a number of safety requirements that must be observed on re-start.

10th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much of the plant which has qualified for the first auction of the capacity market is fossil-fuel burning plant of less than 20MW capacity, given (a) in MW and (b) as a proportion of the total capacity qualifying for the auction.

Fossil fuelled fired plant which has prequalified and confirmed its participation in the capacity auction and which is less than 20MW (on a de-rated capacity basis), totals around 1,950MW of de-rated capacity. This is about 3% of the total of 64,969MW of de-rated capacity which will participate in the auction.

The full list of capacity that has pre-qualified can be found on the National Grid website:

https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/pages/Home.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f_layouts%2f15%2fAuthenticate.aspx%3fSource%3d%252F&Source=%2F

10th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to electricity suppliers in the capacity market of carrying the liability for meeting the payments of a defaulting participant.

The Department has not made an estimate of the additional cost to suppliers of carrying the liability in the event of one participant defaulting. In the first instance each supplier is required to post credit cover which will be used to cover a missed payment. In the unlikely event a defaulted payment is mutualised across other suppliers, the actual amount would depend on the overall cost of the capacity market payments in that year, and the share of these costs due to be paid by the defaulting supplier. Electricity suppliers have been consulted on these arrangements.

10th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the Cost of New Entry, represented as £/MHh for (a) 800MW OCGT, (b) 800MW CCGT, (c) gas plant sub-20MW and (d) oil plant sub-20MW.

DECC’s publishes estimates for the levelised costs of electricity generation for different technologies. The most recent £/MWh estimates are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf

Table 1 below is taken from this report, and shows the central levelised cost estimate for representative CCGT and OCGT plants commissioning in 2016. Estimates are not published for sub 20-MW gas plants or oil plants.

Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for CCGT and OCGT technologies, technology specific hurdle rates

£/MWh

£2012

CCGT (gas) *

OCGT (gas) *

Projects commissioning in 2016

77

169

* CCGT: Combined Cycle Gas Turbine, OCGT: Open Cycle Gas Turbine

It should be noted that updated cost input assumptions for the range of CCGT and OCGT costs are provided in a Coal and Gas Assumptions report by Parsons Brinkerhoff commissioned by DECC (March 2014). This is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315717/coal_and_gas_assumptions.PDF

The levelised cost of a particular generation technology is the ratio of the total costs of a generic plant to the total amount of electricity expected to be generated over the plant’s lifetime (per megawatt hour). Levelised cost estimates are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.

17th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector in each year since 2005.

A report published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs within the wider low carbon and environmental goods and services sector from 2007/08 to 2011/12 (figures for earlier years are not available) and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-and-environmental-goods-and-services-2011-to-2012.

17th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the energy efficiency industry in each year since 2005.

A report published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs supported across the wider low carbon and environmental goods and services sector. The report, published in July 2013, is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-and-environmental-goods-and-services-2011-to-2012.

The report does not explicitly refer to the energy efficiency sector, but it does present estimates of employment in the low carbon building technologies and energy management sectors from 2007/08 to 2011/12 (figures for earlier years are not available). The estimates of employment in the two sectors contained within the report include both those employed directly and those employed indirectly in the wider supply chain.

17th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of how many jobs there will be in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector in each year from 2015 to 2030.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have an overall estimate of jobs in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector in each year from 2015 to 2030.

However, the Department recently published a comprehensive assessment of investment and employment in UK energy sectors1, including an estimate that Electricity Market Reform will help support up to 250,000 jobs in low carbon electricity generation by 2020.

[1] DECC (July 2014) Delivering UK Energy Investment: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/331071/DECC_Energy_Investment_Report.pdf

17th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) Green Deal assessments, (b) Green Deal plans in unique properties and (c) measures installed using Green Deal finance in each month since January 2013 in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales.

The Department reports the number of (a) Green Deal Assessments, (b) Green Deal Plans in unique properties and (c) measures installed using Green Deal finance by month in the following Official Statistics publication in Tables 2, 3 and 3a respectively:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-october-2014

DECC currently only publish cumulative totals to the end of each quarter for any geographic breakdown tables (i.e. for Scotland, England and Wales). My department reports the number of Green Deal Assessments, and 'live' Green Deal Plans (with measures installed) in unique properties by region, up to 30th June 2014 in Tables 1.6 and 1.7 respectively in the quarterly official statistics publication:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-june-2014

Cumulative totals to previous totals are also available in previous quarterly publications.

17th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of measures installed under the Energy Companies Obligation by (a) measure and (b) obligation in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales in each month since January 2013.

The Department is unable to provide a breakdown of measures installed under the Energy Companies Obligation by measure type by country by month. This would require additional resource to extract this data (beyond the time/cost limit for named day PQs) as this level of information is not currently published by DECC. DECC currently only publish cumulative totals to the end of each quarter for any geographic breakdown tables. Attached Table 1 shows the provisional number of ECO measures by ECO obligation by country by quarter, up to 30th June 2014.

The provisional number of ECO measures by (b) obligation, in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales is published in Table 1.11 of the quarterly official statistics:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-june-2014

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many full-time equivalent officials of what grade in his Department have been assigned to assist UK Coal in the drafting of a state aid bid.

Senior Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Yorkshire Humber North East Office have been assigned to assist UK Coal following their interest in applying for government funding to extend the operation of the two remaining deep mines until the end of 2018. These officials met with UK Coal on 10 October and are now working with them to help prepare a case for Government support. The company fully understands that this is the first phase of a complex and challenging process before the government submits a state aid case to the European Commission.

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many bids were received in the 14th licensing round for onshore oil and gas.

The 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round closed for applications on the 28th October 2014, and we have received 95 applications covering in total 295 blocks. (A block for these purposes is a 10x10 km area.) Some blocks were applied for by more than one applicant.

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he intends to announce the awarding of licences arising from the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing round.

The assessment of the applications received is in hand, but it is too early to say how soon the necessary work can be completed. We hope to be able to announce licence offers in the early part of 2015.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what forecast he has made of (a) the number of smart meters installed and (b) the cost on the consumer bill of the installation of such meters in each quarter between Q3 2014 and Q3 2018.

The larger energy suppliers have provided yearly smart and advanced meter installation forecasts to DECC, which were published in the ‘Second Annual Report on the Roll-out of Smart Meters’ in December 2013:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/second-annual-progress-report-on-the-roll-out-of-smart-meters

These figures will be updated in the next annual report based on the most recent projections by suppliers. It should be noted that these figures do not include any of the smaller suppliers’ estimates, nor take into account any growth in customer numbers.

DECC does not project bill impacts on a quarter by quarter basis and DECC’s latest prices and bills report from March 2013 contained projected bill impacts from smart metering for 2013, 2020 and 2030:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/172923/130326_-_Price_and_Bill_Impacts_Report_Final.pdf .

The smart meter Impact Assessment published in January 2014, estimates that even at their peak in 2015 the costs to the average consumer will be £6, or less than 0.5% of the average bill:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessment

Taking into account all costs and savings, by 2017 the average consumer will start saving money, leading to an annual net saving of £26 in 2020, increasing to £43 a year in 2030 in comparison to a situation without smart meters.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the strike price for Hinkley Point C in October 2014 prices.

The Hinkley Point C strike price in 2012 prices is £89.50/MWh indexed to the Consumer Price Index. This price benefits from upfront reduction of £3/MWh built in on assumption that EdF will be able to share first of a kind costs of EPR reactors across Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C sites. If the final investment decision is not taken on Sizewell C, the Strike Price for Hinkley Point C will be £92.50/MWh in 2012 prices. The Department has not restated the strike price in October 2014 prices.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the overall cost to the consumer in 2014 prices of the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C over its 35 year lifetime.

We have not made an estimate of the overall cost to the consumer in 2014 prices as the CPI index for the full year is not yet available.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the actual historical volatility of wholesale gas prices in each month since June 2010, given as the average deviation from the average price for each month.

We have not made such a calculation.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the wholesale price for electricity in each month since June 2010.

The Department does not make its own estimates of wholesale prices for electricity. We typically source market data from sources such as from Marex Spectron.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of (a) the total cost to his Department and (b) the number of full time equivalent staff employed in administering the fourteenth licensing round for onshore oil and gas.

No assessment to date has been made on the total cost to DECC of administering the 14th licensing round. The consideration of applications made in the licensing round is yet to take place and the number of applications relevant staff will need to consider will not be known until the passing of the application deadline on the 28th October 2014.

Up to four members of staff have had substantial involvement in preparations for the round to date, and up to six more may be involved in the assessment of applications once received and in the issue of licences in accordance with Ministers’ decisions. In addition, the Department is conducting environmental assessments related to the round, with assistance from external consultants.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the likely total allocation from the levy control framework for (a) feed in tariffs, (b) renewables obligations and (c) projects agreed under the final investment decision-enabling process in each year from 2015 to 2021.

The projected allocation from the levy control framework for feed in tariffs, the renewables obligation and projects agreed under the final investment decision-enabling process in financial years from 2015/16 to 2020/21 is expected to be published in an annex (‘DECC’s Consumer Funded Policies – a report to Parliament’) to the Annual Energy Statement.

Publication of the Annual Energy Statement is expected in Autumn 2014.

21st Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the likely transmission cost per consumer in each regional distribution network area in each year from 2014 to 2022.

Ofgem regulates network expenditure through the price control processes, which set out how much the network companies can spend and what can be passed through to consumers over an eight-year period. Network costs are charged to network users on a cost reflective basis to ensure that the networks are built, maintained and operated in an economically efficient way.

DECC publishes average bill impacts. In March 2013, the Government published estimates of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills for 2013, 2020 and 2030:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/172923/130326_-_Price_and_Bill_Impacts_Report_Final.pdf.

14th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what compensation mechanisms are in place for EDF in the event that the Government closes Hinkley Point C for reasons other than safety or immediate environmental reasons.

If a final contract is signed, it is expected that the investors in Hinkley Point C would, subject to conditions, receive compensation in the event of a political shut down of the plant other than for reasons including health, nuclear safety, security, environmental reasons, nuclear transport or nuclear safeguards. These arrangements would be supported by an agreement between my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Hinkley Point C investors.

The exact details of the compensation mechanisms are to be agreed between the Government and EDF, but the principle would be that investors are compensated for their losses directly as a result of the decision to shut them down.

14th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the operator's liability for decommissioning costs are capped in the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C, or whether these will be passed on to EDF in full.

There is no cap in the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C on the operator’s liability for decommissioning costs.

The Government’s policy is that operators of new nuclear power stations must have arrangements in place to meet the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management and disposal costs. This policy is being implemented through a framework created by the Energy Act 2008. The Energy Act requires operators of new nuclear power stations to have a Funded Decommissioning Programme approved by the Secretary of State in place before construction of a new nuclear power station begins and to comply with this programme thereafter.

14th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of the forecast levelised costs for nuclear power generation with a date of commission in (a) 2020, (b) 2025, (c) 2030 and (d) 2035.

DECC’s most recently published figures for current and future levelised costs are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf

Table 1 below is taken from this report, and shows a range of levelised cost estimates for nuclear projects commissioning in 2020, 2025 and 2030, evaluated using a technology specific hurdle rate of 9.5% (pre-tax real). Estimates are not available for projects commissioning in 2035.

Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for nuclear projects, technology specific hurdle rate, sensitivities around high/low capital costs

£/MWh

£2012

Projects commissioning in 2020,

£/MWh

Projects commissioning in 2025,

£/MWh

Projects commissioning in 2030,

£/MWh

Nuclear

79 - 102

75 – 101

67 - 89

Levelised cost estimates for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.

16th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total staff cost has been of (a) the Office of Unconventional Oil and Gas, (b) the Office of Carbon Capture and Storage, (c) his Department's human resources services, (d) the EMR delivery unit and (e) his Department's press office in each year since June 2010.

Business Area

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

£(k)

£(k)

£(k)

£(k)

Unconventional Oil & Gas

-

-

-

448

OCCS

1,419

1,762

2,515

2,570

HR

1,385

1,614

1,968

2,044

EMR Delivery Unit

-

-

-

4,299

Communications (incl. Press Office)

2,678

2,223

2,450

2,384

16th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the amount of gas transferred from (a) Scotland to England and (b) England to Scotland through onshore interconnectors in each month since June 2010.

The Department does not collect or publish statistics on the flow of gas between Scotland and England and vice-versa.

15th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the total amount of gas consumed in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each month since June 2010.

Gas consumption estimates for Great Britain are based on annualised meter consumption readings supplied to DECC by energy companies. Monthly estimates are not available.

Annual data is also available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sub-national-gas-consumption-data.

15th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the quantity of gas imported to the UK through the (a) Bacton-Zeebrugge pipeline and (b) the St Fergus-Frigg/Heimdal pipeline in each month since June 2010.

The Department publishes monthly statistics back to January 2000 on gas imports to the UK within Energy Trends table 4.4. The table includes the quantity of gas imported to the UK through the Bacton-Zeebrugge Interconnector and the Vesterled pipeline to St Fergus Frigg sub terminal. The latest version of Energy Trends table 4.4 can be accessed here:

http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323246/et4_4.xls

15th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on what dates he has met representatives from (a) Cuadrilla, (b) Dart Energy, (c) iGas, (d) Europa Oil and Gas, (e) Greenpeace, (f) Friends of the Earth and (g) the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in each month since June 2010.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s meetings with external organisations from July 2012 to December 2013 have been published and can be found on the www.gov.uk website at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&publication_type=transparency-data

Meetings prior to July 2012 are now available on the National Archives website at the following link:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102164008/http:/www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx

Meetings from January 2014 to date are currently being collated and checked prior to publication. Please be assured that the Department is committed to publishing this information.

15th Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of total gas storage capacity in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland; and how much such capacity is (i) short range storage and (ii) long range storage.

Total gas storage capacity in England is 4.63bcm. This includes the 3.3bcm Rough facility located in the Southern North Sea. In addition, there are two projects currently under construction in England which will bring full gas storage capacity to 5.13bcm when completed.

There are no gas storage facilities currently located in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

Of the existing gas storage capacity, 3.3bcm (the Rough facility) is long range and 1.33bcm is short range. The two projects currently under construction, totalling 0.5bcm, are both short range facilities.