Magnus Gardham
Political Editor
NICOLA Sturgeon has opened a new front in her rapidly escalating fight with
the UK Government after she demanded a veto over Britain’s energy policy.
The First Minister said UK ministers should take key decisions only after
“consultation and agreement” with the Scottish Government.
The demand came as experts warned Scotland will rely increasingly on
importing power from England to keep the lights on in the years ahead.
It is the latest in a series of confrontations between the Scottish and UK
governments since the General Election.
The Scottish Government has already challenged Conservative plans to repeal
the Human Rights Act, while a bitter row is brewing over proposals to
devolve more powers to Holyrood.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said the First Minister’s latest intervention
amounted to an attempt “to unilaterally declare independence for Scotland”.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking after a meeting of the Scottish Energy Advisory
Board, a panel co-chaired by the First Minister and Professor Sir Jim
McDonald of Strathclyde University.
She set out a list of specific demands, including an assurance that
subsidies for Scotland’s onshore windfarms will not be changed without the
blessing of SNP ministers in Edinburgh.
She also called on the UK Government to commit to major offshore wind
projects, where Scotland has lost out because of the higher costs of
maintaining turbines in deeper coastal waters.
Ms Sturgeon also urged the UK Government to cut transmission charges for
generators in remote parts of Scotland further than already planned.
Demanding inter-governmental consultation and agreement on key energy
decisions, Ms Sturgeon said: “Scotland is an energy powerhouse but we have
very limited powers on energy policy.
“That is why today I am calling on the UK to take a much more collegiate
approach to policy-making on energy and ensure proper consultation with the
Scottish Government on major areas of energy policy.”
Stressing the environmental importance of Scotland’s growing renewable
energy sector, she added: “We have achieved a great deal in the renewable
field, however there is still much to do and Scotland’s natural potential
makes it a cost-efficient place to develop renewable resources.
“We see a benefit to both Scotland and the rest of the UK in enabling this
economically efficient development of renewable potential to continue.”
Mr Fraser said: “You have to ask what role the SNP envisages for its 56 MPs
at Westminster.
“They are in the House of Commons to help shape policy and contribute to
these very discussions.
“If Nicola Sturgeon says they are not to have any role, why are they there?”
Energy policy is reserved to Westminster, though Holyrood exerts
significant influence over the power generating mix in Scotland through its
control over the planning system.
Ms Sturgeon’s call for a final say on wider policy issues came as experts
told MSPs Scotland would be increasingly dependent on electricity imported
from England as more than half the country’s generating capacity is due to
shut down in the next few years.
Longannet, the giant coal-fired power station in Fife, is expected to close
by March next year as new carbon emission rules will make it uneconomic.
Scotland’s two ageing nuclear power stations, Hunterston and Torness, are
scheduled to go offline by 2023. The three closures will cut Scotland’s
generating capacity by 55 per cent and leave the country’s energy mix
dominated by windfarms.
Addressing Holyrood’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, Professor
Gareth Harrison, of the University of Edinburgh, said: “In terms of lots of
generation closing, if you’re comfortable with that then you could probably
cope assuming there is sufficient level of generation in the rest of the UK
to cope with the inevitable swings in wind.
“My own personal view is that you should retain something.
“It provides you with a degree of flexibility that you wouldn’t otherwise
have.”
Lawrence Slade, interim chief executive officer for Energy UK, said the UK
as a whole has one of the most secure energy systems in Europe.
He said: “Certainly from National Grid’s responsibility, we are confident
that they have the tools and resources available to them to deliver
security of supply in the coming years.”
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