Dear Prime Minister,

I am contacting you to express my concern, and that of my constituents, at the large increase in energy costs on 1 April and the delays to the government’s energy security strategy and measures to help cut the cost of energy; and to ask that you act now to secure the increase in renewable energy that is needed to tackle this crisis.

The looming price increase will be unaffordable for millions of people across the UK, pushing hardworking families into poverty, insecurity and debt through no fault of their own. It is essential that the government takes action to protect people from these escalating costs in both the short and the medium term. There is an urgent need for more immediate support to help people pay their energy bills and heat their homes as the UK ends its reliance on gas. 

It is also essential to greatly expand the UK’s supply of renewable energy, which can be produced from the UK’s own abundant domestic wind and solar resources. Onshore and offshore wind and solar power are clean, cheap and extremely popular across the UK - unlike proposals to expand our use of fossil fuels, which would cause serious harm to the climate and also fail to cut energy costs. New onshore renewables projects can also start generating electricity for the grid on the rapid timeframes required, with wind and solar currently being commissioned coming online before the end of next year.(1) There are 649 onshore wind and solar projects in the UK which already have planning permissions and could be built quickly, which together could reduce gas use by more than the amount the UK imports from Russia.(2)

It’s now six times more expensive to generate electricity from existing gas power plants than it would be to build and operate new onshore wind projects.(3) People across the UK recognise that renewables are better for their energy bills, as well as for the climate, with polling by BEIS showing that 90% of people support solar, 85% support wave and tidal energy, 84% of people support offshore wind and 80% support onshore wind, compared to just 17% of people who support fracking.(4) Support for onshore wind goes across political boundaries, with 62% of Conservative voters supporting onshore wind being built near them.(5)

I understand that there are concerns about increasing expenditure, but I would emphasise that allowing the market to deliver the increase in clean energy supply that the UK urgently needs would generate huge savings, both to the public purse and to individual consumers, families and businesses which are currently facing crippling energy costs which will have a negative impact across the economy. Renewable energy is now so cheap that it does not require subsidies, but a route to market and a sensible planning regime. 

I urge you to act rapidly to put in place the measures needed to decisively tackle the energy cost crisis, by ending reliance on gas and ensuring we can power the UK with domestically produced, clean, cheap renewable energy.

I look forward to receiving your reply.

Kind regards,

(1)https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1016681/cfd-ar4-asp.pdf (2)https://twitter.com/DrSimEvans/status/1501649925783830531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
(3)https://twitter.com/DrSimEvans/status/1501556278115676163
(4)https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1040725/BEIS_PAT_Autumn_2021_Energy_Infrastructure_and_Energy_Sources.pdf
(5)https://europeanclimate.org/resources/europeans-support-new-wind-and-solar-projects-in-their-local-area/