Short sighted view on energy

Questions over infrastructure

SERIOUS QUESTIONS need to be asked about the Government’s preparedness when it comes to energy shortages.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and few could have predicted the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis.

But energy supply has been a concern for some time. Back in February 2018, then Prime Minister Theresa May told The Yorkshire Post that she believed fracking was important “because of the impact it can have on our future energy security”.

Yet Liz Truss, who looks set to become the next PM, stands accused of signing off the closure of a gas facility in Yorkshire that will now have to be reopened as Britain struggles to get to grips with the energy crisis.

The Rough natural gas storage facility off the East Yorkshire coast is set to reopen within weeks, with Ms Truss accused of signing off the plan to close the plant in June 2017 in one of her first acts as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Her allies stress that she wouldn’t have been in the post long enough to be involved in key decisions, with the final decision being made only days after she stepped into the role.

Analysis at the time showed that keeping the facility open reduced the average price of gas and that closing it would leave households £16 to £20 worse off annually.

For a nation that is facing sky-high energy bills and potential blackouts, this will not be very palatable.

That is why energy security needs to be a core issue for the next Government. Policies need to go beyond just much needed immediate relief.

This and the lack of water reserves during the heatwave this summer point to an inadequate infrastructure crucial to our very existence.

It will come at a cost but as we’re seeing from the issues in the energy market and the recent drought, not having a long-term vision on utility infrastructure is detrimental to the country.