Friday 22 September 2023

Prime Minister’s net zero announcement dents energy sector confidence

Nearly 75% of professionals and businesses in the decentralised energy sector have reported a substantial decline in confidence following the Prime Minister's speech.

That's according to a new survey by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE), which suggests just 20% of the 250-strong audience of ADE's annual conference remained unaffected.

Nearly 5% claimed that the announcement had bolstered their outlook.

Before the Prime Minister's announcement, a staggering 74% of attendees had expressed either medium or high levels of confidence in the government's ability to introduce essential policies supporting their businesses.

When asked about their response to the government's new approach to achieving net zero, nearly 89% of the audience expressed a desire to "raise the stakes" and intensify their efforts to ensure that progress toward a sustainable energy future does not falter.

Almost 6% suggested maintaining the status quo, while a mere 7% advocated for keeping a low profile.

Speaking to the audience, ADE Chief Executive Officer Caroline Bragg said: "It’s been an extremely interesting couple of days.

"We need to have a serious discussion about where this is going to push policy and how we’re going to make up the shortfall the government already knew it had in the Sixth Carbon Budget because we simply have to."