Unlocking Net Zero

ScottishPower unveils 10-point plan to deliver jobs and investment for green recovery

• Plan sets out 10 steps to invest and build the electric network of the future today
• 10 steps allow green recovery to become a reality:
  • Installing electric charge points across every community, village, town and city and accelerating the switch to electric vehicles by 2030
  • Increasing the building of renewables to supply every home, business and car with green electricity
  • Supporting more than 100,000 new jobs and apprentice opportunities for today’s generation of young people.
• Green recovery delivered through private investment and minimal cost to customers and able to start now

ScottishPower – the UK’s first 100% green energy company – today outlines 10 immediate steps to create jobs and investment that will drive the UK’s green recovery and deliver quick returns for the economy, people and communities.

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The priorities and regulatory changes set out in UNLOCKING NET ZERO: 10 Practical Steps For A Green Recovery are focused on changes the Government could make to quickly boost private investment in the economy and create jobs. Most of these changes would come with minimal cost to the public purse.

In response to the significant economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has recognised the need to stimulate economic growth in a sustainable and resilient way.

ScottishPower’s 10 steps provide a roadmap for accelerating investment in green infrastructure initiatives and unlocking significant economic benefits on the path to Net Zero. These would create jobs, incentivise investment, and boost the domestic supply chain.

Crucially, most of the steps can be taken without any additional cost to government. Existing regulatory and market mechanisms can be used to leverage private investment in energy infrastructure.

Focussing on four key areas – renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), low carbon homes, and energy networks – the 10 steps include:

• Removing the cap on future wind farm contract auctions to boost investment in renewable energy
• Bringing forward the ban on petrol and diesel vehicles to 2030 to encourage people to buy EVs sooner
• Bringing forward the Future Homes Standard from 2025 to 2022 to get more EV chargers and electric heat pumps into people’s homes
• Providing the right environment for greater investment in the electricity network for businesses like ScottishPower to invest more, with the forthcoming transmission networks price control (RIIO T2) an important test case for the scale of the UK’s ambition.

Keith Anderson, ScottishPower CEO, said: “Our 10 practical steps provide a clear sense of direction and ambition for government and business as we start to come out of this crisis. These are achievable and deliverable steps that really are within our grasp – providing immediate, inexpensive actions that can be taken now to give an immediate boost to the economy and provide long-term environmental benefits.

“We don’t need over-ambitious new programmes or giant innovations to deliver the necessary transformation. We need to build low carbon homes, get people into electric cars and construct new wind farms. We can do all these things, and do them quickly, with just small changes to existing government rules and regulations. It really is a no-brainer.

“The time is now and there isn’t a moment to waste if we want to achieve a better future, quicker. ScottishPower has worked hard during this crisis to keep power flowing to homes and businesses, generate clean energy, support our customers and keep our colleagues safe. Now we need to start building our future and we are demonstrating just how easily that can be done.

“With our 10 practical steps, we show how the green recovery can become a reality. And it can be done at little or zero cost to government. Investment can be stimulated, jobs* can be created and we can move closer to a cleaner, greener future. All of that is possible by unlocking net zero, and ScottishPower will continue to be at the forefront of making that happen.”

• Read the full Unlocking Net Zero report

Full details of ScottishPower’s Zero Carbon Communities campaign – which is about helping and guiding communities along the path to net zero –  are available on our Zero Carbon Communities area.

*Research by Capital Economics, commissioned by ScottishPower, has already shown that the UK’s journey to net zero could support over 100,000 jobs each year between now and 2025, and over 200,000 each year between 2026 and 2030.

Shropshire. For more information about SP Energy Networks and its services visit the SP Energy Networks website.

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The 10 Practical Steps For A Green Recovery

The 10 Practical Steps For A Green Recovery are detailed in the table below.

UNLOCKING NET ZERO: 10 Practical Steps For A Green Recovery
		Practical Step	Cost to government	Benefits
Green Generation	1.	Build on success of existing Contracts for Difference scheme with ambitious programme of uncapped future auctions	No additional funding required	Creates jobs Supports UK supply chain Boosts investment in regions and local communities Delivers low-cost, green energy Drives technological innovation.
	2.	Prioritise climate change mitigation and support the planning process to speed up the Net Zero transition	No additional funding required
Net Zero Networks	3.	Ensure the right framework is in place to attract the investment in network infrastructure needed to meet Net Zero	No additional funding required	Creates jobs Supports UK supply chain Boosts regional development Stimulates low carbon innovation
	4.	Unlock additional private investment through a more ambitious approach to the RIIO T2 and ED2 price controls	No additional funding required
Electric Vehicles	5.	Bring forward the petrol and diesel vehicle phase-out date to 2030	No additional funding required	Creates jobs Sends clear signals to the UK supply chain Drives EV adoption Delivers fair access to low-cost EV charging for every community Stimulates innovation and deployment of low carbon solutions
	6.	Maintain grant funding for EVs and home chargers	No additional funding required
	7.	Support the roll-out of a comprehensive network of public EV charge points	Some additional funding required
Low Carbon Buildings	8.	Speed up action on energy efficiency and bring forward the Future Homes Standard to 2022	Some additional funding required	Creates jobs Sends clear signals to the UK supply chain Stimulates investment Boosts regional development Speeds up carbon reduction benefits, reduces energy demand Improves family income and tackles fuel poverty
	9.	Increase grant funding for the role out of heat pumps and support heat pump-based networks	Some additional funding required
	10.	A new approach on smart metering to accelerate roll-out	No additional funding required