A New Dawn? What a New Labour Government Pledge to do about Energy, Fuel Bills and Climate Change

On July 5th, the results were in. Labour had won the election by a landslide. Centring their campaign around the slogan ‘Change’, many will wonder whether this marks the start of a new dawn.

Now it is time for Labour to take charge, their promises to roll out a decarbonised energy grid by 2030 will be held under a microscope. Many who have struggled under the weight of rising energy bills will also wonder what this means for them.

We look back at Labour’s green energy pledges to highlight what we can expect to come.

‘Great British Energy’

One common pledge running through each main UK parties’ manifesto was the commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050, some even sooner.

The Conservative manifesto maintained a business-as-usual mindset to their previous green policies, which were reported by the Climate Change Committee as failing to make required progress towards Net Zero targets. The party’s loss of 250 seats cannot be ignored, the public have made a call for change and that includes moving away from years of energy insecurity and slow environmental progress.

According to YouGov polls, the environment and climate change were ranked as the fifth most important issue to voters and so, it falls to Labour to lead the race towards Net Zero. In fact, it is Labour who made the stakes of this race even higher, pledging to decarbonise the electricity system, increase the capacity of the grid and meet the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030. To do so, they plan to establish energy independence with ‘Great British Energy’, a state-owned energy company that intends to roll-out renewables and invest in clean energy by quadrupling offshore wind, trebling solar power, and doubling onshore wind. Additionally, Labour pledge to end commitments to new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea and plan to maintain nuclear power.

People care about reducing fossil fuel emissions, improving energy stability, and living more sustainably as demonstrated by the Green Party’s triumph over former strong Labour and Conservative constituencies.

Election results emphasised the public’s investment in progressive green policies, with the Green Party having its strongest performance to date and quadrupling its number of parliamentary seats to four. This included overturning a 22,000 Conservative majority to win Waveney Valley, with a 32.1% swing to Green, and a 10,000 Labour majority to win Bristol Central. Historically held by one of the two ‘main’ parties, these areas are holding Labour and the Conservatives accountable for not pledging to do enough for Climate Change or the environment.

Changes in energy formed much of the backbone of Labour’s Manifesto, stating ‘clean energy’ transition represents a huge opportunity to generate growth, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and make Britain energy independent once again’. Now, it is time for Labour to get this off the ground, with added pressure from an increased Green party presence in Parliament.

Domestic Energy

The launch of Labour’s Warm Homes Plan will deliver an additional £6.6 billion to upgrade Britain’s homes, cut energy bills and boost jobs across the country.

The Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries, and low carbon heating to cut bills. It will provide protection for renters designed to save the average tenant £250 per year by requiring landlords to meet stringent energy efficiency standards by 2030.

Labour poses that clean energy will improve energy security ‘to end the era of high energy bills’ and ‘lower bills for good’ for households. However, people will be looking for quick solutions to problems they are currently facing, such as damp and cold homes and sky-high bill payments. Major concerns surround the fundamental inequality of domestic energy bills, as ‘lower-income households consume less energy, but they spend a larger share of their income on it’ and their energy needs still go largely unmet.

Alongside the rises in the cost of living and increased energy prices, there is an estimated 6 million UK households living in fuel poverty. It is the general consensus from energy experts, that the transition to clean energy would ‘lead to major reductions in household energy bills and accelerate progress towards universal energy access.’ However, we urgently need policies to improve the fabric of homes and to support vulnerable households who are struggling to heat their homes.

The Warm Homes Plan has the potential to improve the homes of those unable to pay, helping to reduce high rates of fuel poverty. The success of this will vary on how Labour’s partnership plays out with combined authorities, local and devolved governments. Costing the plan at £1.1bn a year, they also plan to work with banks and the private sector to increase the installation of home upgrades and low carbon heating. However, the manifesto also states that no household “will be forced to rip out their boiler as a result of our plans”, skating close to the Conservatives manifesto claim that they will never force “people to rip out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump.” Claims like this suggest a hesitancy to commit to improving homes with low carbon upgrades, suggesting that a clean energy transition could be much slower in the domestic sector.

Additionally, to monitor that private rented homes comply with minimum energy efficiency standards, currently shockingly low at an EPC band E, allows properties continue to run cold and bills to run high, with renters unable to do much against complacent landlords. Increasing the minimum energy efficiency standards would help this have a real impact.

In the weeks to follow, people will look to Labour for the specific details of their plans, but for now the outcomes are uncertain.