Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has undertaken on the proposal put forward by Greenpeace UK and Stonehaven in their Power Shift report to move gas-fired power stations into a Regulated Asset Base strategic reserve.

This government has been clear that the answers to the challenges around energy security, affordability and sustainability point in the same direction – clean energy.

Under current market frameworks, technologies with the lowest marginal cost dispatch first. Unabated gas is already at the bottom of the merit order, meaning it already dispatches last.

By 2030 unabated gas will account for less than 5% of total generation. As low‑carbon technologies are deployed at scale, gas will increasingly shift to a reserve role in the system, meaning it will set electricity prices less often over time, reducing consumers’ exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices.

As the role of unabated gas diminishes, we will continue to explore how market and system arrangements can evolve to minimise its impact on consumer bills, including considering the potential benefits and risks of alternative market reforms.