The party said that it will take decisive action to promote nuclear and renewable power, through streamlined planning, a floor price for carbon and improved infrastructure. It will also make Britain more energy efficient, through Green Deal and a ‘new energy’ internet, that puts consumers in control of their energy usage.
David Cameron, leader of Conservative Party, said: “British energy policy is out of date. It was designed almost thirty years ago for a world in which Britain had an excess of generating capacity; in which we enjoyed the benefits of growing North Sea oil and gas production; and in which neither local pollution nor climate change were the concerns they are today.
“We are setting out a Conservative program for the long-overdue reform of British energy policy – together with the actions we will take to mobilize the investment required to enact those reforms and our strategy for minimizing the cost to consumers.”
Greg Clark, secretary of Shadow Energy and Climate Change, said: “The challenges of climate change and of securing our energy supplies present a growing threat and five more years of Gordon Brown would only make an already precarious situation worse. We need radical change and in this Green Paper we set out plans for the biggest overhaul of British energy policy in a generation.
“Our policies will deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy for the years ahead, while boosting investment and creating jobs. Ours is a plan to turn a threat into an opportunity, demonstrating the energy leadership and values needed to get Britain back on track.”
EDF Energy has welcomed the confirmation from the Conservatives of their commitment to new nuclear and their announcement of plans for a carbon price floor to encourage low carbon investment.
Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, said: “EDF Energy has consistently set out the need for energy market reform, and said that certainty on the carbon price should be a priority. We have been strongly proposing a carbon floor mechanism for several years.
“A carbon price floor is the most cost-effective way to discourage investment in carbon-emitting plant and encourage all low-carbon investment including nuclear, renewables and clean coal.”
