Utilities Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:45 pm on 5 July 2000.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Sharp of Guildford Baroness Sharp of Guildford Liberal Democrat 4:45, 5 July 2000

My Lords, I support both the amendment put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Beaumont, and my noble friend Lord Ezra and speak to Amendment No. 27 which is in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Ezra. I would like to say a word about the issue of embedded generation. It is clear, and there is a clear admission, that the new electricity generating arrangements disadvantage small generators of electricity yet, as we debated earlier, when we consider the interests of consumers it is not only current consumers but future ones with whom we are concerned. We know that unless we make a serious attempt to meet renewable targets future generations of consumers are going to be at a disadvantage. It is vitally important that we make a real effort to meet the targets.

Embedded generation, small-scale combined heat and power (CHP), small-scale solar panels, effective voltaics and so on, are all forms of energy generation which have great advantages. But they require encouragement. If we do not encourage them now we shall fail to develop the technology on a scale sufficient to enable it to be taken up by consumers. One of the great advantages of embedded generation is that electricity is generated close to its users; it does not incur the costs and losses of transmission. It is extremely important that there should be in the Bill powers and incentives to encourage this small-scale generation capacity so that future generations of consumers may benefit from it.