Reform UK has urged energy industry leaders to scrap their reliance on net zero targets, with deputy leader Richard Tice warning there is “no democratic mandate” for higher energy costs.
In a meeting with 11 senior industry figures, Tice – who also serves as the party’s energy spokesman – said a Reform government would focus on delivering “abundant, reliable and cheap home-grown energy” from nuclear and gas-fired power stations. He confirmed the party would scrap the UK’s 2050 net zero target, describing it as a barrier to affordable energy.
Reform has signalled it would be willing to tear up existing renewable energy contracts if they conflicted with its energy price objectives. The party has already warned developers not to participate in Allocation Round 7 (AR7) – the government’s competitive process for awarding guaranteed minimum prices for clean power projects – arguing that the strike price of £126 per megawatt-hour is more than 70% above the current wholesale market rate of £73.
Tice said this proved “environmentalists were wrong” to claim renewables were cheaper, adding: “We do not feel bound by AR7 contracts or thereafter and consider all options on the table.” He urged investors and lenders to avoid backing large-scale renewable projects, claiming they would “make the UK poorer”.
A Reform spokesperson added that Tice had criticised “ugly solar farms, questionable battery storage systems and thousands of huge pylons” for raising electricity costs, damaging the countryside and threatening British industrial jobs.
Earlier this week, Tice accused solar farm developers of “desecrating” the countryside and warned that subsidies would be removed under a Reform government. He wrote to Island Green Power, the company behind the proposed 2,700-acre East Pye solar farm in Norfolk, placing it and its investors “on formal notice” that the party would end taxpayer support for such projects.
Similar letters have been sent to wind farm developers, with Tice insisting the “environmental, economic and social costs” of large-scale renewables “far outweigh the benefits”.
The intervention comes after Energy Secretary Ed Miliband approved development consent orders for seven major solar farms, with more than 30 others in the planning pipeline.
Reform, which has been leading recent opinion polls, says it intends to “reassess all net zero-related contracts signed under the current Government” if it wins the next general election.
