In Parliament, Scottish Conservative Energy Spokesperson and local MSP Murdo Fraser has attacked the role of onshore windfarms in contributing to fuel poverty.
The MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife questioned Labour’s commitment to freeze energy prices, sighting the performance of the then Energy Minister Ed Milliband who was happy to see bills rise as a result of low-carbon energy.
Speaking in the Chamber Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said:
…Energy prices have been increasing, and that this has been a factor in increasing fuel poverty.
…The UK Labour leader, Ed Milliband, has proposed a freeze in gas and electricity prices until 2017. This is a nonsensical announcement, which will deter future investment in development of new energy sources, and in any event will easily be circumvented by price rises prior to any general election where the market felt there was a prospect of Ed Milliband being successful, however dreadful that prospect may be.
…I do accept that there are issues in the energy market, which is why the recent Ofgem recommendation for a Competition and Markets Authority enquiry is, to me, entirely the right way to proceed.
…But we cannot ignore the elephant in the room here, which is the high cost of low-carbon energy, exactly the type of energy which Ed Miliband was so enthusiastic for when he was Energy Secretary in the UK government. At the time he was happy for bills to rise as a price for low-carbon energy. Now to take a different view reeks of opportunism and of hypocrisy.
…SNP Ministers will in this Chamber week after week denounce the high cost of new nuclear power, which they rightly state is at double the market price for today’s electricity. What they fail to mention is that the renewable energy which they and the SNP benches in this Parliament are so addicted to is even more expensive than new nuclear.
…Even the most mature renewables technology, on-shore wind, is coming in more expensive today than the contract signed for the new nuclear power station at Hinkly Point. And the strike prices are only part of the picture. Because unlike nuclear power which is a source of reliable base load, wind provides an intermittent, unreliable and unpredictable source of power, which requires back up at all times from conventional generation. It also requires substantial grid upgrades, all of which have to be paid for by the poor consumer.
…So the dash for renewables is what is driving up fuel bills, and is a contributor to fuel poverty. I accept there is need to decarbonise the energy supply, and I believe it can be done more affordably by going the nuclear route. But even that is going to be much more expensive than what we currently have.
…So when debating fuel poverty, we need to be aware of the broader background to the issue. The very wind turbines which Ed Milliband has said Britain will have to “embrace” if Labour wins the next election, are direct contributors to the very fuel poverty that Jackie Baillie and her colleagues are today complaining about. If we are to take Labour seriously on these issues, then they need to get some consistency of message.