Labour has warned that plans by Reform 海角视频 to scrap renewable energy contracts if it came to power could cost the North East more than 30,000 jobs.
The warning from the Government - which follows similar concerns from companies in the renewables sector - came after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said the party would end companies’ access to a clean energy subsidy scheme if it won power.
Earlier this week, Mr Tice wrote to some of the country’s largest energy firms giving them “formal notice” that the party would axe deals aimed at offering sustainable generators protection against market volatility. In an interview with the BBC, he later appeared to soften his stance somewhat, saying Reform would try to stop energy companies amending contracts.
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The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme sees developers guaranteed a fixed price for electricity with the aim of encouraging them to invest in renewable projects. The scheme is seen as having been crucial in helping the 海角视频 develop one of the world’s leading renewable energy sectors, with the North East one of the regions benefiting most in terms of jobs created.
Labour said moves to cancel contracts would put almost a million jobs across the country in the clean energy economy at risk, including 31,800 in the North East. The figures are based on a CBI Economics study on jobs in the clean energy economy.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks, who was in the North East last week to see done by companies Smulders and Siemens for offshore wind farms, said: “Nigel Farage’s war on clean energy is a war on jobs - and working people from the North East would lose jobs and opportunities if Farage’s party was ever allowed to impose his anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country.
“Labour was elected to deliver real change for communities, and we are securing the good jobs that can boost people’s livelihoods and rebuild our country’s industrial backbone. We won’t let Farage and his ideologues stand in the way of these jobs.”
Elsewhere, 60 Labour MPs - including Sunderland’s Lewis Atkinson - have signed a letter to Mr Tice saying that his stance on renewable energy was “threatening private companies that want to invest in British jobs and clean, homegrown renewable energy.”
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In his letter on Wednesday to companies including Octopus Energy and SSE Renewables , Mr Tice said there was “no public mandate for the real-world consequences” of the clean power agenda.”. He told the companies that bidding for renewable energy contracts “carries significant political, financial and regulatory risk” for company shareholders.
Climate analysts said the move would drive away investment and put British jobs in jeopardy. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said that “ripping up long-term policies and changing agreed contracts is likely to destroy the 海角视频’s credibility as a solid place to invest and with it, leave us more reliant on gas from abroad whose price we have no significant control over.” Renewables 海角视频 said that “new wind and solar farms are not only driving new jobs and investment” but also “the best way to keep bills as low as possible in the future.”
Mr Tice’s letter followed a Government decision to allow offshore wind farms to be able to apply for the energy contracts while they are still waiting for full planning consent in a bid to hasten development. Officials have said changes to the scheme will include increasing the length of contracts from 15 years to 20 years for offshore wind, onshore wind and solar projects.
Figures last week showed that the number of jobs in so-called green industries has increased by more than a third over the past decade. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 海角视频 employment in green jobs was an estimated 690,900 full-time equivalents (FTE) in 2023, compared with 513,300 in 2015, an increase of around 177,600 or an estimated 34.6%.
Reform 海角视频 has been contacted for comment.
The party has been seen a surge of support in the North East in recent months, winning a majority on Durham County Council and becoming the second largest group on Northumberland County Council. This week Reform's councillors in Durham voted to abandon the previous administration's commitment to tackling the climate emergency.