Electricity Transmission (North Somerset)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:16 pm on 22 March 2012.

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Photo of Charles Hendry Charles Hendry The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change 6:16, 22 March 2012

I will give way in a moment, but I want to respond to a further point raised by my right hon. Friend about the potential golden age for gas with shale gas emerging. For the United Kingdom, most of that gas would need to be imported, as our own resources decline. So we, too, need to look at how we can harness our own low-carbon electricity resources, such as nuclear and renewables. Putting off building new generation has got us into the mess we are in, where the previous Government identified that the lights could be going out around the end of this decade. We cannot afford to delay any longer in securing the investment in new capacity.