Businesses Urge UK to Cut Energy Costs for Industry

The UK’s upcoming industrial strategy should include action to slash energy costs which are among the highest in the world and hinder growth, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee warned in a report on Friday, as business leaders are also calling for a decisive action to cut industrial energy costs.

The UK government is set to unveil an industrial strategy next week—Britain’s first such strategy this decade—to spur growth in an ever-changing geopolitical and trade landscape.

The Industrial Strategy “must deliver sweeping public-private reforms - and lower energy costs - or ministers will miss ‘once in a century’ opportunity for British economy,” the committee warned in the report.

“We recommend that the industrial strategy must include measures that level the playing field with our international competitors on industrial energy prices,” the committee said.

“Priority should be given to leading sectors, and other foundational industries, in which high energy prices have the greatest impact on the ability of UK-based businesses to compete and attract investment.”

Make UK, a manufacturing industry group, this week called for “Government to take action to address sky-high industrial energy costs in the upcoming industrial strategy, or risk the plan becoming “fatally flawed.”

Make UK has estimated that UK industrial energy costs are four times higher than the U.S. and 46% above global average.

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said this week “Across the economy, the message is clear – we cannot deliver economic security without action on energy.”

“The government has put prosperity over politics on the world stage... now it must do the same for energy,” Newton-Smith told business leaders and politicians on Thursday.

Industrialists in the UK have also criticized the UK’s carbon prices, emissions trading scheme, and the higher costs they face due to net-zero policies.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of chemicals giant Ineos, criticized the UK carbon tax policy, which has made Ineos pause green energy projects.

“This is not just INEOS, this is a reality for British manufacturers up and down the country: carbon emissions taxes and excessive energy costs are squeezing the life out of the sector,” Ratcliffe said in April.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com