3 key takeaways for business from the Labour Party Conference
Press enquiries
If you are a journalist with a media enquiry, please contact our Press Office by email at pressoffice@ecotricity.co.uk
For all other general enquiries, please call 0345 555 7100 or email home@ecotricity.co.uk.
All eyes of the energy and green business communities were on Liverpool last week for the Labour Party Conference. Arriving around 10 weeks after he came into the job, it was an early chance to get a real sense on what an Andy Burnham premiership will mean. What does a national form of his ‘Manchesterism’ ideology look like? Would he double down on committing to net zero? What will he do to tackle persistently high energy bills?
Our team was on the ground at the conference, with our Founder Dale Vince in attendance for Andy's keynote speech. Off the back of this, we now have a stronger sense of what Andy Burnham as Prime Minister means for the businesses of Britain. Here are our three key takeaways.
Prepare for GB Grid
As well as renewables being called out for the role they have already played in giving us more control of our energy, several of the announcements focused on reforming the grid.
That’s where we saw some major announcements, including one of the big Conference pledges: the launch of GB Grid. This vehicle will use money previously allocated to Great British Energy to compete with privately owned companies such as National Grid.
However, this won’t just be about building grid infrastructure. According to Adam Bell of consultants Stonehaven: “For the first time since the 1990s, the state will have perfect information about network costs that it can use to drive performance across privately held networks.” This means the state will be armed with more information to drive, meaning the private grid companies can be better held to account to ensure they’re delivering value for businesses and homes.
Faster grid connections for businesses
The launch of GB Grid was accompanied by the announcement of reforms to allow companies to build their connections to hook up to the grid, rather than waiting for the network companies to do so. The government has said similar reforms in Ireland have reduced connection times by 11 months, offering the chance for businesses to scale up at speed.
As Andy said: “You would not believe how many businesses complain to me they can’t get going because they can’t get connected to the grid. It pushes costs up. It drags growth down. And it holds Britain back. We won’t get the growth and inward investment we need if we don’t fix it.”
Speeding up breaking the link
However, one announcement from Andy around grid reform really stood out. “I have asked Miatta Fahnbulleh [the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero] to speed up the breaking of the link between what we pay for power at home and the international gas market, to get bills down,” he told the crowd in Liverpool.
This is the one change that could really move the dial for the energy bills of the businesses of Britain, and it's a reform we have taken the lead campaigning for. In fact, during the 2022 energy crisis, Britain paid an estimated £43 billion more for energy than it would have if this link had been broken (around £13 billion extra for households and £30 billion for businesses) because we remain tied to volatile fossil fuel markets. With market volatility here again, expediting this evolution could make a huge difference for the businesses of Britain.
By continuing to scale up renewables at pace and delivering on breaking the link as part of a wider package of grid reform, there is the potential to both give Britain energy independence and tackle our stubbornly high industrial energy prices. All of which in turn can deliver the industrial growth promised by the new Chancellor. Liverpool could be a major step on the journey towards truly delivering Green Britain.
The world's first mobile provider to use its profits to restore nature
You've already made your energy green. Now your business calls can do some good too. Ecotalk, our sister company, is the world's first mobile provider to use its profits to restore nature. Every call, text and GB of data used by Ecotalk customers helps reintroduce lost species, rewild damaged habitats and replant native woodland across Britain, guided by Chief Ecologist Chris Packham. Workplaces can soon join in.
Ecotalk Business brings you a SIM-only service offering award-winning UK coverage and a commitment to funding wildlife recovery, built for teams and organisations that want their spending to make a difference. Want to be at the front of the queue?
Register your interest via this form and you'll hear the moment it launches.
Similar articles
The Labour Party Conference offered the clearest indication yet of what an Andy Burnham government means for British business.
Think solar panels stop working in winter? Think again. Solar panels generate electricity from daylight, not heat, so they work all year round.
