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Powering a Whole Nation Economy - Why Energy Abundance is Crucial to the Whole Nation Offer
- Miranda Jupp
- Nov 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Co-founder of Whole Nation Conservatives Miranda Jupp is a longstanding North East Conservative activist and former council candidate. Prior to the 2024 General Election she was Chief of Staff to Sir Simon Clarke.
The cost of living pressures which resulted from increased energy costs in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine undoubtedly contributed to the scale of the defeat our party suffered in July. As shown by the extent of anger over Labour’s recent decision to means test Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners, the prospect of people being forced to choose between heating and eating has significant political salience.
But high household energy bills are not the only problem caused by high energy costs. Recent figures show (1) that at over $400 per megawatt hour, average UK industrial electricity prices are enormous by international standards: British industrial producers pay nearly twice as much for electricity as their French counterparts and more than four times as much as their US competitors. Britain is spending £3 billion a year importing electricity (2). This makes producing anything in the UK comparatively expensive, making it incredibly difficult for companies to compete in an international marketplace. Over recent decades, we have repeatedly seen once thriving British manufacturers shrink or shut their doors and high energy costs have undoubtedly played a significant role.
As well as the difficulty in maintaining sovereign capabilities in industries such as steel making having national security implications, the severe impact on the social fabric of communities which grew up around large industrial employers such as steel, chemicals and car making has been profound. Large scale losses of well paid, highly skilled jobs have a knock on effect for local small businesses. High incidence of unemployment and limited well paid opportunities close to home has often led to talented youngsters leaving to seek work elsewhere, leaving left behind communities with ever fewer role models for the next generation.
So how can we seek to change this? And as Conservatives how should we pitch our policy offer in this area?
A large part of the cause of our high energy prices is lack of supply. UK per capita electricity production is only two-thirds of that of France. The US produces nearly three times the electricity per person than we do in this country! (3) Throughout history, successful economies have relied on an abundance of energy and however much Ed Miliband talks about his new ‘Great British Energy’ stunt it isn’t increasing energy production.
This situation should be addressed as a national priority: we need to be strong advocates of increased power generation - both new nuclear power stations and sensible use of renewable energy, and also improvements to grid infrastructure to allow power to reach where it is needed. We should advocate the streamlining of planning and regulation to enable the rate of delivery of this vital national infrastructure to be increased. We should also explore ideas like regionalised electricity pricing and using ‘surplus’ energy generated by wind or solar at non-peak times in productive ways, and community benefit schemes for those hosting vital new infrastructure.
Getting this right would be an enormous win for the UK. We could create an environment in which the private sector can create skilled jobs in the places that need them, reduce the cost of living and increase our national resilience in producing essential goods such as steel. But we need to tell this story effectively in order to avoid progress being blocked by NIMBYs. We also should be unashamed in promoting the need for more energy: we can absolutely make more use of low carbon sources (including Nuclear) but hair-shirt environmentalism will only make our lives poorer (and reduce public support for taking better care of our planet).
So let’s talk about the benefits for everyone of generating more energy, harness the spirit of our ancestors who were pioneers in energy production and power up the economy of all parts of the UK.
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