The UK is still dealing with its second energy price shock in less than five years as the Middle East crisis has sent fossil fuels markets into turmoil. The last energy crisis cost the economy £183 billion, squeezing the UK’s fiscal space to absorb a new shock. The brief “Great British Energy: Delivering security, prosperity and economic renewal” published by the E3G discusses about the Great British Energy (GBE) as a vehicle to tackle these challenges head-on by putting local and community energy in the hands of people, strengthening domestic supply chains as part of a broader reindustrialisation of Britain’s left-behind regions, and scaling clean energy technologies to get the UK off volatile fossil fuels.
The brief suggests that to deliver the government’s mission for greater control over energy markets and industry, GBE must meet three conditions: build institutional capacity aligned with its ambition to establish a world-leading energy company by 2026, focus its resources on areas of highest impact in the first two years and demonstrate delivery in key areas to ensure its projects reduce energy bills for communities, build strong supply chains and support local jobs by 2028 and establish financial credibility to be in a strong position to scale its impact by 2030.
The brief highlights the following recommendations to translate the above conditions into action: unlocking a new wave of community and local energy investment by removing barriers to community energy, and crowding in private finance, reindustrialising Britain’s regions by strategically scaling finance for clean energy supply chains, creating good jobs and delivering a more secure energy system and translating ambition into a delivery roadmap for the next phase that drives investment by setting out sector prioritisation and an investor engagement strategy, and by articulating how GBE will manage trade-offs.
Access the brief here