In Parliament - Ed Miliband

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Community Energy

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Ed Miliband received a response to a question they put to the government

My Department and Great British Energy have engaged extensively with the community energy sector in developing the Local Power Plan. I will shortly be making a statement to this House about the...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I thank my hon. Friend for his invitation, and I look forward to doing that. He makes the important point that we can look back at our history, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

Power to the people, indeed—it is a great slogan. I really do share my hon. Friend’s sentiments, both about the co-operative movement and Rochdale’s pioneering place in the...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

We are right into the nerdery here—and it is really important nerdery. My hon. Friend makes an essential point about the ability to sell this power back into the grid. I assure him that we...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We have carried out a big overhaul of the grid connections queue, which, as he knows, was sort of like the wild west. There was a chaotic “first...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

My hon. Friend makes a really important point. Local Members of Parliament have a massive role to play in, for example, approaching their local community groups and others who have the potential...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

The hon. Lady asks an important question. We will work with the Welsh publicly owned energy company to make sure that Wales benefits from this plan. I made that point about a fair balance of...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

Another really exciting part of this plan is working with local mayors, such as the excellent Claire Ward. There is a real chance here for mayoral vision to combine with the national...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

As a South Yorkshire MP, I completely agree with the hon. Member on these matters. He makes a really important point, and he has put it on the record. I am sure that GB Energy will be very...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I congratulate the Welsh Government on their important initiatives in this area; they are great leaders in it. I was whispering to the Minister for Energy about whether he and I should be cycling...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I will not go into the details of a planning decision, but areas that host energy infrastructure should see community benefits. What I say to his constituents and others is that there should...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

My hon. Friend makes an important point. As a super nerd, I am very interested in that kind of impact analysis. Sometimes Governments do things but do not track their impact, so they cannot prove...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

Yes is the answer to that question. Community energy includes all kinds of innovative projects. As we open these funds for bidding—both from local authorities and community groups—we...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

The two ideas that my hon. Friend puts forward sound absolutely ideal for this fund to me, but as for the eventual outcome, I must not put my thumb on the scale too much. He is right about this....

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

This plan is mainly about community groups and non-profit organisations, but the right hon. Gentleman raises a serious issue. It is something that we are talking to the National Wealth Fund and...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

My hon. Friend speaks with great eloquence on these issues. I am very interested in the power, introduced under the Infrastructure Act 2015, to give local community groups the right to buy a...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

The right hon. Gentleman and I have had exchanges on this matter before. It is a serious issue, and he is absolutely within his rights to raise it. I would just say two things to him: first,...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I will take up my hon. Friend on his kind offer. I think we will see a powerful example there of community energy in practice, and what is so exciting about today’s announcement is that we...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I thank the hon. Lady for her advocacy on this issue. My hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, who is the world expert on these questions—or at least the UK expert; I will not push it too...

Local Power Plan

Commons debates

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Briefly, there are three important aspects to this: first, communities can have lower bills for their community centres and local institutions; secondly,...