Sir Keir Starmer has announced that a Labour government will create a listed energy company within its first year in office.
The Labour leader said Great British Energy (GB Energy) would capitalise on opportunities in clean, renewable energy.
He won a standing ovation at the party’s annual meeting in Liverpool when he said the new company would be publicly owned.
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Sir Keir said it was “fit for work, fit for growth and energy independent from a tyrant like Putin”.
The Labour leader told delegates that the largest onshore wind farm in Wales is currently owned by Sweden, that Swansea’s energy bills pay for schools and hospitals in Stockholm, that the Chinese Communist Party has a stake in the UK’s nuclear industry, and that there are 5 million Britons Bills were paid to a French-owned energy company.
Labour said GB Energy’s role would be to provide additional capacity, as well as a rapidly expanding private sector, to make the UK a clean energy superpower and ensure long-term energy security.
The party said GB Energy’s announcement builds on its commitment to make the UK a clean energy superpower by 2030 and to create a National Wealth Fund (NWF).
The energy production company will receive seed funding from the £8bn NWF to invest in green schemes.
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State backing means it may invest in riskier schemes or more experimental technologies, such as tidal energy, and the scheme is ultimately self-financing through the money generated.
The independently run company could invest in the nuclear program and eventually even export the energy overseas.
Labour leaders told the meeting that Labour’s plan is a pragmatic way to help deliver clean energy at scale, so we can cut energy bills, provide energy security and create good jobs for the British people.
Sir Keir said: “Labour will ensure that the public money we spend on building British industry, stimulating private investment, stimulating growth … the British people enjoy the rewards.”
Ed Miliband, shadow secretary for climate and net zero emissions, said: “Labour will provide the energy system for people and the planet. Foreign governments own much of our energy system and derive wealth from it.
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“As we deliver our clean energy plan, it’s time for ourselves to have publicly owned domestic champions in energy production, creating wealth and jobs in the UK. Labour will build an energy system for the future that works for the British people.”
A Labour spokesman said: “This is not about nationalisation. It is about bringing a new player into the market to ensure we do everything we can to push clean, renewable and nuclear power.”
