How to make green energy a vote winner
5/10/202650 min
Why is the UK’s energy pricing system so broken? Why must the transition to green energy be accelerated? And how can we make clean, renewable power the most affordable option for those on low incomes?
Robert joins Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of the Climate Change Committee, to discuss the misunderstood parts of our energy system and what the UK’s shift to renewables actually looks like.
The Rest is Money is brought to you by Octopus Energy, Britain’s smart energy pioneer.
Email: therestismoney@goalhanger.com
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsEmma Pinchbeck· Guest0:01
Energy is really misunderstood Costing households and it's costing businesses- Yeah ...
Robert Peston· Host0:05
and it's making the economy uncompetitive.
Emma Pinchbeck· Guest0:06
Completely agree that the electricity price is a problem. I think the next sentence, though, often in the political debate is, "And that's because of net zero or because of the renewables."
Robert Peston· Host0:14
Which is rubbish.
Emma Pinchbeck· Guest0:15
Which is rubbish. Investors, as you know, Robert, aren't fans of change and change to markets and twenty-five-year infrastructure projects. Investor certainty to get the stuff built or consumer benefit pre-2030.
Robert Peston· Host0:26
Clean energy- Mm ... is a very attractive destination. Why is it so apparently politically unpopular? And what does, what does any government do about it?
Emma Pinchbeck· Guest0:36
We're delighted to say that this year The Rest is Money is being powered by Octopus Energy, so Greg is back with us. Greg, I've got another question for you. So in terms of energy companies, are we just back to the big six?
Greg Jackson0:49
You know what? We've only got, like, six or so major supermarket chains. No one worries about that because they invest ferociously in competition. You've got differentiation. You know, we thought the market was stable, then Aldi and Lidl turned up. Competition is not about reinventing the souk with dozens of identikit, uh, companies. It's about companies having different approaches to looking after customers and competing ferociously on that. Uh, energy could well be going that direction.
Emma Pinchbeck· Guest1:17
Well, cheers, Greg, and thank you for powering this episode of The Rest Is Money.
Speaker 41:21
[upbeat music] I sold my car on Carvana last night. [laughs] Well, that's cool. No, y-you don't understand. It went perfectly. Real offer, down to the penny. They're picking it up tomorrow.