Energy Bill Committee announce evidence programme

The House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is to consider the Energy Bill will hear oral evidence from Tuesday 15 January 2013

The provisional programme of witnesses for the Energy Bill Committee has been agreed by its programming sub-committee.

The Committee will hear oral evidence on Tuesday 15 January and then consider the Bill every Tuesday and Thursday from that point, concluding on Tuesday 12 February.

Programme and witnesses

Tuesday 15 January

Taking place in the Boothroyd Room in Portcullis House:

at 8.55am

Rt Hon Edward Davey MP, Secretary of State, Department for Energy & Climate Change; and
Philip Dunne MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Ministry of Defence

c9.55am

National Grid
Scottish Power
E.ON UK
Centrica

c11am

Ofgem

at 2pm

Low Carbon Finance Group
Confederation of British Industry

c2.45pm

Renewable Energy Systems
DONG Energy
Ecotricity

c3.30pm

Cornwall Energy Associates
Professor Catherine Mitchell, Exeter University; and
Professor Dieter Helm CBE, Oxford University

c4.15pm

SSE
Vestas Wind Systems

Thursday 17 January

Taking place in the Boothroyd Room in Portcullis House:

at 11.30am

Committee on Climate Change

c12 midday

Greenpeace
Friends of the Earth

c2pm

Safety Directors Forum
EDF Energy
Carbon Capture and Storage Association

c3pm

Consumer Focus
IPPR
Which?

c4pm

National Energy Action
GMB

c4.45pm

Combined Heat and Power
Siemens
E3G

Line by line scrutiny of the Bill

Line by line scrutiny of the Bill (all in Committee Room 9, Palace of Westminster):

Tuesday 22 January 8.55am and 2pm
Thursday 24 January 11.30am and 2pm
Tuesday 29 January 8.55am and 2pm
Thursday 31 January 11.30am and 2pm
Tuesday 5 February 8.55am and 2pm
Thursday 7 February 11.30am and 2pm
Tuesday 12 February 8.55am and 2pm

The Committee must complete consideration of the Bill no later than 5pm on Tuesday 12 February.

These sessions will be open to the public on a first come, first served basis. There is no system for the prior reservation of seats in Committee Rooms.

It is advisable to allow about 20 minutes to pass through security checks. Timings and room numbers are subject to change.

Summary of the Bill

The Energy Bill 2012 seeks to implement 'electricity market reform'. The aims of this, as for Government energy policy generally, are for 'secure, clean and affordable' energy supplies.

The Bill introduces a new system of support for low-carbon generation, called 'Contracts for Difference' which will encompass nuclear as well as renewable generation. It allows for other measures to reform the electricity market, such as capacity auctions, and measures to support routes to market for independent generators should such powers be needed.

Other provisions in the Bill include placing the Office for Nuclear Regulation on a statutory footing, allowing for the possible sale of the Government Pipeline and Storage System, and 'consumer redress' powers, allowing Ofgem to require energy companies to pay compensation to consumers.

However, it does not include all of the recommendations made by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee following its pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill.

Report: Draft Energy Bill - Pre-legislative Scrutiny

The Committee also said that certainty and stability were needed urgently for investors, but several consultations associated with measures in the Bill are still on-going.

Further Information

The Scrutiny Unit can help with any queries about oral evidence.