The decision we will all make on 23 June, the day of the EU referendum, will directly affect the futures of your children, grandchildren, and possibly their children too.
As the Energy Secretary, my first responsibility is making sure our families and businesses have the certainty of secure, clean and affordable energy supplies. This is exactly why I care so much about the UK staying in the EU – because it helps to deliver that for our communities across the UK.
Being in the EU helps attract billions and billions of pounds of investment, which supports the 660,000 jobs in the UK’s energy sector. Does anybody really think all of that investment would continue if we left the EU, and with no extra costs?
Those who want us to leave cannot tell you what a future would look like. Neither will they tell you how much it will cost. What I will tell you, is that people want, and deserve, lower energy bills, and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen. Leaving the EU could put all of that at risk and working people would pay the price with fewer jobs and higher prices.
National Grid, who are responsible for the energy infrastructure on which we rely to go about our daily tasks such as putting the kettle on or charging our phones, commissioned an independent report about how the EU membership affects our energy supply as well as gas and electricity bills. The findings show that by leaving the EU and its internal energy market we could see energy costs rocket by at least £500 million a year – the equivalent of British bills going up by around one and a half million pounds each and every day. And these costs could easily be a lot higher. In fact, being in the EU helps UK households save an average of £60 on their energy bills a year because of energy efficient product standards for things like TVs, fridges and washing machines. This saving rises to £120 a year by 2020.
Leaving the EU could also affect the supply of this energy in the future. By 2030 we are expected to import about three quarters of our gas – that’s nearly twice as much as we import now. That means we have to continue to work well with our closest neighbours, so that we’re stronger together against countries such as Putin’s Russia who are rich in natural resources but hold other countries to ransom by threatening to cut off their gas supplies. Together we can source gas from elsewhere and drive down the price of imports.
I firmly believe that we will be stronger, safer and better off as a member of the EU- why risk our energy and economic security by changing that?
