Debate contribution: Energy Market

Debate contribution by Mr Conor Murphy on 11 June 2024.

MLA

Mr Conor Murphy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

11 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Energy Market

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496066

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I thank the Members for bringing the motion to the Floor. It is an important issue, and I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on it. I am moving quickly to deliver on the economic plans that I set up when I took office. The plans have our energy ambitions at their core, obligations that are moral as well as legislative. The cost-of-living crisis is exacerbated by the cost of energy, and that reflects the direct cost of reliance on fossil fuels. That cannot be allowed to continue; hence my focus on reducing our carbon emissions, as a key objective of my economic plans, and a move to sustainable renewable energy sources. The Consumer Council recently confirmed that the biggest issue facing 31% of all households was the cost of their energy bill. The research estimated that 51% of households here were in fuel poverty. A move to local, clean energy supplies will help us to break a chain that tethers us to global factors. I am keen that we become self-sufficient in our energy market, using the natural resources that we have in abundance on this island to generate affordable renewable power for local people and businesses. I support the concept of energy transition proofing for all public policy and legislation. I support the inclusion of the development rights for green infrastructure, which rests with the Department for Infrastructure. Minister O'Dowd's Department and mine are already working closely. Yesterday, we met our respective officials to discuss a number of issues, including how planning and development can support the delivery of green infrastructure. I would expect all Departments to prioritise environmental issues, and the Executive are behind that approach. The delivery of net zero, affordable energy is a key action for all Ministers as outlined in the energy strategy and the subsequent Climate Change Act. My Department is playing its part in making that ambition a reality and seizing the economic opportunities that transition into net zero will provide. Since taking office, I have introduced a moratorium on onshore petroleum licensing, which will be followed by a legislative ban. I have launched a five-year capital energy efficiency and renewable energy support grant for local businesses.

I have committed a further £25 million to energy invest-to-save projects across the central government estate. I have published a call for evidence on biomethane, with another publication that is focused on biofuels to come shortly as we assess the potential alternatives to fossil fuels for heating. Invest NI is developing a net zero accelerator fund to provide government support for the development and delivery of innovative renewable technologies. My Department is also planning two major consultations on the support that people should get to help them through transition: one is on the future of low-carbon heat support; and the other is on the future of energy efficiency support.

The move to decarbonise our economy and to net zero more broadly is a transition that we all need to embrace, and it will present opportunities to further my wider economic plans. The scale of the technological revolution that is required to deliver net zero is immense, and if we harness the ingenuity and renowned technological capacity of our workforce in response, we can become a world-leading exporter of skills, expertise and net zero solutions. If we successfully build a green economy, we can go beyond self-sufficiency and become a net exporter of affordable renewable energy. In doing so, we will create good jobs and support a better standard of living. We will also raise our productivity, which currently lags behind that of the rest of these islands. Plenty of companies across the island are seizing opportunities for innovation and carving out a piece of the market for themselves. Whether it is Wrightbus in Ballymena, Ionic Technologies in Belfast, Octopus Energy and Plaswire in mid-Ulster, Glen Dimplex in Newry, or Mannok's pioneering green hydrogen valley in Fermanagh, our businesses are already rising to the challenge and meeting it head-on. The motion acknowledges:

"the value of constructing and retrofitting houses",

and the amendment references the need for a

"large-scale social housing retrofit programme".

While I agree that it is important to acknowledge that responsibility for social housing lies with the Department for Communities, my Department co-chairs a residential decarbonisation coordination group along with the Department for Communities, and that group has set out a high-level pathway for policy that is related to decarbonising homes, in line with each Department's area of responsibility. The Housing Executive has a responsibility, as the home energy conservation authority, to promote high standards of new housebuilding and to provide social housing whilst targeting social need. My Department continues to work with colleagues in the Department of Finance on the reform of building regulations to produce a series of net zero-ready building standards, and I will ensure that that cross-departmental working continues to deliver on our collective responsibility. I will also ensure that lead Departments are afforded the opportunity to progress and report on important issues that are relevant to their own business areas, such as retrofitting, which is referenced in the amendment. Of course, the Departments themselves have to lead on that. Part of the amendment suggests that I lead on reporting, which is not possible, but I will certainly play my part in supporting that. Sinéad McLaughlin made a point about retrofitting. As part of a policy development process, officials have established stakeholder groups to support understanding the constraints that industry faces, particularly in heat and energy efficiency. The motion calls on me:

"urgently to introduce ... legislation ... including to alter the terms of the Utility Regulator to incorporate oil within its role".

The proposer of the motion spoke to that, and I will make a few points about it. It is vital that any regulation that we bring forward benefits consumers, protects the vulnerable and is not rushed. We must avoid potential negative impacts on market conditions and available prices. It is worth noting that price controls will do little to tackle the underlying causes of oil price fluctuations. That is because the price regulator would have to allow the pass-through of legitimate input costs, most notably crude oil prices. In addition, the costs of regulation, including administrative and other indirect costs, could add further upward pressure on consumers' bills, and we want to avoid that at all costs. The Department will continue to work with the Utility Regulator to understand what legislation is required in order to deliver our future net zero requirements. An important first step is a Bill enabling the Utility Regulator to support my Department in the development of low-carbon energy policies, and the Executive have recognised the importance of that legislation and have agreed that it should issue for consultation. My Department also has plans to bring forward detailed legislation on a number of other areas during the mandate. We will succeed only by continuing to show leadership and collaborating strategically on the opportunities and investments that are needed to achieve our goals. By co-designing our policies along with those who are involved in a significant transition across multiple sectors, we will make sure that businesses and consumers are at the heart of this important change. Contributors to the debate made a number of important points. The Committee Chair raised the issue of the regulator, which I have addressed. We have worked collaboratively with him over the 18-month period to develop a legislative solution that will support the Department in its obligations under the Climate Change Act and the Executive's energy strategy. That will provide a power whereby the regulator may provide information, advice and assistance to the Department to support the development of essential low-carbon energy policies and a qualified duty that it must, so far as reasonably practical, comply with any reasonable request that is made. The Executive have agreed that a public consultation will take place on the Bill. The Department for Infrastructure and the Department for Communities have expressed an interest in the Bill's being widened to support the decarbonisation of areas that are under their remit. That engagement will take place between officials in the coming week. Steve Aiken mentioned the issues of the single electricity market and interconnection. The SEM is connected to Britain via two interconnectors: the Moyle interconnector between the North and Scotland, and the east-west interconnector between the South and Wales. However, as a result of EU exit, Britain is no longer part of the internal energy market, which has impacted trading across those interconnectors. The loss of efficient trading is a suboptimal position for the SEM and can contribute to higher prices. Transmission system operators (TSOs) and interconnector owners in the EU and Britain have been working on the development of new trading procedures, as required by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, to address the issue. However, it is anticipated that it could be around four years before they are implemented. Officials will continue to monitor the progress of that important work and provide assistance and support, as required, to the British Government, TSOs and interconnector owners. Steve Aiken mentioned offshore wind. An update of the previous strategic environmental assessment is in progress. We intend to consult soon on potential areas for offshore development. Another area that was mentioned by a number of Members, including Sorcha Eastwood, relates to skills. The Department has established an industry-led green skills delivery group. That group will look at skills across several areas in energy transition. The green skills action plan is due to be ready by September. We hope to be able to report on that. A number of other issues were mentioned with regard to skills, which I hope that I have addressed and will address by having that action plan ready by the end of the summer. I agreed with a range of other contributions that were made. I will not repeat them, suffice to say that there are some points, certainly in relation to the Utility Regulator and oil, that we need to consider. I am not averse to doing that, but it needs to be considered in the round. There are more issues at play there than, perhaps, appear on the surface. On my leading on some of this, that will be a challenge because it covers other Ministers' responsibilities, but I am happy to support the spirit of what was intended through collaboration. Collaboration across Departments will be key to all this. We have already started work with Infrastructure. Yesterday, I had a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. We had a discussion across the entire area with regard to green energy, environmental matters and net zero targets. Of course, we will work with Communities, Finance and other Departments as well. The best outcome that we can have, because it is an Executive-wide priority, is to ensure that Departments harmonise the work that we need to do in order to achieve this, and, as has been said many times during the debate, supporting people to be part of this in their transition will be key to ensuring that nobody is left behind. I am very happy to acquiesce to the motion and the amendment.

1,874 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:44 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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