The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee questioned leading academics and industry experts on what Brexit will mean for energy security.
E3G's Joseph Dutton gave evidence along with Georgina Wright, Research Assistant at Chatham House and Malcolm Keay, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Joseph summarised his main points as follows:
The referendum result has already made energy more expensive in the UK. The steep fall in the value of the pound against the Euro has made the cost of importing gas and electricity from Europe higher, and this has contributed to utilities raising their price rises for consumers this year. The exchange rate has also been a factor in the rising cost of petrol and diesel, too.
If we have a Hard Brexit and the UK does not remain part of the single European energy market, it could push the cost of energy and consumer bills even higher for households. Being excluded from this market could cost the UK £0.5 billion per year after we leave the EU.
Being integrated with the EU helps lower the cost of supplying electricity and support the development of renewable energy. The UK government wants to double the number of connections we have with European countries, but these projects could be delayed or cancelled because of the political and regulatory uncertainty around Brexit. New interconnection will reduce the wholesale market price for UK electricity by 7%, but losing these future projects could end up costing households £12bn by 2030.
The political uncertainty and falling value of the pound have already hit energy company investments. This will potentially cost jobs, increase costs, and threaten UK energy supplies in the future.
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