Doncaster MP Ed Miliband in Sheffield: ‘Government record on renewable energy making energy crisis worse’

Miliband, who is also shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on a visit to Heeley Energy House in Sheffield.

The project is based at Heeley City Farm and they develop, fund and own community energy schemes across the city through Sheffield Renewables.

They go out to people and raise money to purchase solar panels for organisations and sell the electricity back at a reduced rate which means they save money and use less carbon emissions.

The Doncaster North MP said the government had a ‘poor record’ on delivering green energy and added independent analysis revealed that since the 2015 onshore wind moratorium, it effectively lost the UK five gigawatts of energy, which if priced consistently with energy prices, would have equated to £60 per household off average bills.

Labour is calling for a faster transition to ‘home-grown renewables and nuclear’, as part of the party’s Climate Investment Pledge. The party also say they would bring down energy bills by making sure 19 million homes are well-insulated, saving households an average of ‘£400 a year on bills’.

Mr Miliband said: “We’re highlighting the importance of renewable energy and going green as a way to lower bills and help people.

“What we’ve seen being done by Sheffield Renewables and here at Heeley Energy House are the use of solar panels which can really lower the cost of energy for people and crucially, energy efficiency.

“This goes to the crisis that so many people are facing with their energy bills. We’re calling for an immediate windfall tax (on oil and gas companies) to help people get some much needed assistance in the coming months.

“We can get £600 off bills for a third of families and £200 for everybody. But also there is a longer term issue on how we can manage this crisis going forward.

“The way to do it is not to shrink back from going green but to go further and faster when it comes to energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“Figures we’ve released today show if we had carried on building onshore wind turbines at the rate they should have been then it would’ve been another £60 off people’s bills. We wouldn’t have been relying as much on fossil fuels.

“This shows that renewable energy and energy efficiency is the future too.”