Speaking at the Labour Party Conference this week, party leader Sir Keir Starmer set out plans to create a publicly owned green energy provider in his first year in power, if elected to government.
The renewables company would be known as Great British Energy and operate in a manner akin to that of EDF in France, which is largely owned by the French state.
Sir Keir announced that part of the thinking behind Great British Energy was to enable British people to take ownership of the country’s national resources again, highlighting that many energy suppliers based overseas are providing British jobs in Britain but reaping the benefits of the UK’s energy sources by channeling the resulting wealth abroad.
Sir Keir said: “Labour will make sure that the public money we spend building-up British industry, spurs on private investment, stimulates growth…and the British people enjoy the returns.
“Labour won't make the mistake the Tories made with North Sea oil and gas back in the 1980s. Where they frittered away the wealth from our national resources.
“The Chinese Communist Party has a stake in our nuclear industry. And five million people in Britain pay their bills to an energy company owned by France (EDF).”
Sir Keir also highlighted that the largest onshore windfarm in Wales is under Swedish ownership, which had left “energy bills in Swansea paying for schools and hospitals in Stockholm.”
He continued: “The future wealth of this country is in our air, in our seas, and in our skies. Britain should harness that wealth and share it with all.”
To get the renewables provider up and running, public investment would be provided through Labour’s National Wealth Fund. Plans for this were outlined by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves at the conference earlier this week.
The established green energy company would be run independently once operational, with any profits generated to be reinvested.
As well as delivering wind, tidal and solar power supplies, Great British Energy will also have the ability to invest in privately-owned renewables initiatives.
Labour’s plan is to start the provider off at a small-scale and eventually expand it, until it becomes a “significant, credible generator.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir has rebuffed appeals from the left of the Labour party to nationalise the existing energy sector to tackle rising bills. Instead, he doubled down on his policy of extending the existing windfall tax on the profits of energy companies to create the requisite revenue.
Labour has separately eyed a target of ensuring that the UK generates all its electricity carbon-free by 2030, five years ahead of the Conservative government’s target. This would see the UK become the first major economy in the world to do so.
"Green and growth don't just go together - they're inseparable," Sir Keir said.
