Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle increases in energy costs for manufacturing companies in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government is ensuring the continued international competitiveness of energy intensive industries in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom by providing relief to mitigate the impact of energy and climate change policy on electricity bills. In addition to the £160 million of compensation already provided since 2013, Government began paying compensation to eligible companies for renewable energy policy costs earlier this year, following state aid clearance. Companies in Northern Ireland are eligible to apply for this compensation. A Great Britain-wide consultation on replacing this compensation with an exemption was launched on 1 April and the Northern Ireland Executive will consult separately on this in the future.
We are also acting to reduce electricity costs at the most fundamental levels through both short-term cost control measures and investment in new energy infrastructure.
