Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential for former coal mining communities to benefit from the estimated £86.5 billion in electricity system savings from heat networks as identified in the ADE: Heat Network's report, Electricity System Benefits of Heat Networks.

We welcome the research by ADE: Heat Networks, and agree that appropriate deployment of heat networks has the potential to reduce future electricity system costs by billions as we accelerate to net zero. We set out our long-term strategy for heat networks in the Warm Homes Plan, and our plan to increase flexible capacity on the grid through the Clean Flexibility Roadmap. Avoided electricity system investment will benefit all consumers through their electricity bill. Our focus is to explore all options to enable low-carbon heat networks, including in former coal mining communities, to compete fairly with their gas equivalent to boost energy security and lower consumer bills