Select committee: Science and Technology Committee

Resilience of electricity infrastructure inquiry

Closed Opened 22 Jul 2014 Closed 21 Jul 2014
Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
Energy policy in the UK focusses on balancing three interconnected demands: energy security, affordability and decarbonisation. This is known as the energy trilemma. Within this framework, this inquiry looks specifically at the current and future contribution of science and technology to ensuring the resilience of the UK’s electricity infrastructure. The inquiry is exploring areas including electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Where it stands

The inquiry is closed, opened 22 July 2014.

The committee has published 1 report, most recently 1st Report - The Resilience of the Electricity System on 12 March 2015.

The government's response

The Resilience of the Electricity System - Supplementary Government Response

Published 11 July 2015.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

The Resilience of the Electricity System - Government Response

Published 1 July 2015.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, agreeing with some (on engagement with scientists and ministerial exercises) while declining others, such as specific DSR targets and storage-specific incentives.

  • On emergency planning, the government "agrees with the recommendation" and "will continue routinely to carry out exercises", and says DECC will report this to Parliament "where appropriate".
  • On Demand Side Response, the government says it has worked to ensure DSR is not disadvantaged in the Capacity Market, but says one-year agreements are the default and DSR "should therefore be able to compete effectively on the basis of one-year agreements". It says specific targets would "lead to less competitive auctions increasing costs to consumers".
  • On electricity storage, the government says "We are not currently planning to introduce a framework of incentives specifically for energy storage deployment", and will "continue to keep eligibility for the Contracts for Difference (CfD), including for storage, under review".
  • On the single national emergency number, the government says the programme is "on target for implementation by April 2016". On DSR volumes, it says research "is due to be published in summer 2015".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Oral evidence sessions

16 sessions

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Date Session and witnesses Source
20 Jan 2015
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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13 Jan 2015
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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13 Jan 2015
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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16 Dec 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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9 Dec 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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9 Dec 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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2 Dec 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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2 Dec 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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18 Nov 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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18 Nov 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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4 Nov 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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4 Nov 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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28 Oct 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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28 Oct 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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21 Oct 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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21 Oct 2014
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded
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Correspondence

1 letter

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