Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2025
No, thank you.
If we are still reliant on fossil fuels in 2050, we will be importing them. Even so, as we upgrade the grid, we must bring affected communities with us. Both Scotland’s Governments must be clear, consistent and honest about why investment is needed. Steps to strengthen scrutiny and community engagement processes are still required, but that is not what Mr Lumsden proposes. I understand the strong objections that some people have to projects that they see as being intrusive: pylons, for example, have few aesthetic upsides. Projects should be developed with local communities’ needs in mind, and grid upgrades should give due respect to the environment, landscape and cultural history of the area, as well as to the wellbeing of the people who are impacted.
At the same time, we must be honest with ourselves and with those whom we represent. Proposals that could delay key projects, massively push up their costs or see them being cancelled altogether will have consequences, including higher energy bills for households and businesses, lower economic growth and a UK that is poorer, weaker and less resilient. Communities across Scotland certainly do not want that and would not thank us for leading them to it.
We need to find ways to allow decisions to take the social and environmental needs of local communities into account while avoiding endless delays and uncertainty. It took more than a decade to get the Beauly to Denny line through planning. Delays on that scale have financial costs, but also take a toll on people who are unable to get on with their lives and livelihoods.
There is also a risk that we drive away investment. Scotland and the UK have, broadly speaking, been seen to be stable regulatory and policy environments, but other countries have recognised the benefits of offering the same or better. As the push to decarbonise gathers pace, competition for investment intensifies. If we do not get this right, the price will be paid not only in higher bills but in jobs and prosperity being lost to other parts of the world—and not only in the energy industry. House builders, the whisky industry, data centres and manufacturers are all warning that they are starting to be held back by the outdated grid. We often hear Mr Lumsden and his colleagues advocating for the needs of those sectors. I wonder whether he has consulted them on the proposals that were put forward this afternoon.
In recent years, investment in energy generation has outstripped that in transmission and storage. That is not sustainable. Without transformation of our transmission and storage capacity across the country, we will be forced into an impossible choice: either to make ourselves more and more reliant on importing expensive and polluting fuels from the likes of Putin’s Russia, or to get used to grid failure and regular blackouts. Both would result in higher bills for households and businesses, dramatically lower growth, and a poorer and less resilient UK. I would be interested to know which option Mr Lumsden prefers.
I move amendment S6M-16171.2, to leave out from “opposes” to end and insert:
“understands that the UK and Scottish governments’ jointly proposed changes to the Electricity Act 1989 and the consenting process have recently been issued for consultation, and recognises the importance of listening to the views of communities and other stakeholders before any changes are made; believes that delays to the delivery of vital transmission infrastructure risk holding back essential investment to decarbonise all sectors of the economy and the opportunity to put areas, including the north east and Highlands and Islands, at the forefront of the UK’s renewables revolution, but that the grid changes required must give due respect to the environment, landscape, cultural history, wellbeing and property rights of local people; notes that the outcome of the consultation has yet to be published, and calls, therefore, on both of Scotland’s governments to ensure that any concerns raised through the consultation are appropriately addressed and that concerted action is taken to build community support, secure a consensus around the grid changes that need to be made, and provide greater clarity to the public about why upgrades to the electricity network are important for Scotland’s economy, energy security and climate obligations, whilst also ensuring that developers fulfil their obligations and duties.”
16:22Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.