WEIR SLAMS OFGEM DOUBLE WHAMMY

 

SNP Westminster Energy Spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, has today (Wednesday) condemned Scotland Office Minister, David Cairns, over the Labour Government’s failure to safeguard Scottish energy producers from an Ofgem double whammy of transmition and locational charges. Mr Weir also slammed the Scotland office Minister for his hypocrisy over comments that the Scottish Government had rejected three onshore wind farm applications.

 

Speaking after an exchange at Scottish Questions, Mr Weir said:

 

“Rather than address the problem, David Cairns instead indulged in the Labour Government’s great obsession with nuclear power.

 

“The discriminatory double whammy of transmition and locational charges will hit all energy providers, both renewable and conventional.

 

“The Minister is yet again playing politics with Scotland’s energy future. They are prepared to sacrifice Scotland’s energy producers on the alter of nuclear power, and Ofgem must not be allowed to get away with this madcap scheme.”

 

Turning to Mr Cairns criticism of the Scottish Government for turning down three onshore wind farm applications, Mr Weir said:

 

“I don’t know if its hypocrisy or ignorance, but David Cairns comments will come as real embarrassment to his hapless Labour colleagues in the Scottish Parliament.

 

“If David Cairns wants to compare records on the approval of energy development applications he may be interested to know that the Labour/Liberal Scottish Executive, as it was then, averaged just 3.7 consents per year. The SNP Government has consented five applications over the last six months alone.

 

“Yet again David Cairns has blundered in to something he clearly knows nothing about. It’s no wonder he cant get a grip on why Ofgem’s proposals are such bad news for Scotland.”

 

ENDS

 

A transcript of Mr Weir’s exchange with David Cairns is detailed below:

 

Mike Weir MP: I note with interest that the Minister recently met with Ofgem, and the Minister will be aware that there is a great deal of concern in Scotland on the discriminatory transmition regime that Ofgem imposed on generators, but they are now proposing a double whammy on Scottish generators by also proposing locational distribution charges for energy generated in Scotland, and regardless of the means by which it is generated. Will the Minister urge his colleagues at BERR and his other cabinet colleagues to reject this bout of madness from Ofgem.

 

David Cairns MP: Mr Speaker, the current transmition arrangements ensure that Scottish consumers are paying lower levels of utility bills that they were previously. But of course locational charges are irrelevant if you are not actually building the energy capacity, and there have been four planning decisions that the Scottish Executive had to make about onshore renewable wind farms. They rejected three of them. If you turn down three of the wind farms you are not going to have the capacity to be able to transport it, and until such time as they can come up with an explanation as to how they are going to plug the gap that will be left, then they have no credibility at all.