Old coal puts energy bill into ping pong
MPs rejected a measure that would have limited greenhouse gas emissions from old coal power stations today. The vote means that the UK’s nascent Parliamentary Energy Bill, designed to reform the sector, will return for discussion in the House of Lords in a process technically known as ‘ping pong’.
The UK has a number of old coal power stations still running – many of which have been going since the 1960s. Last month, the House of Lords passed an amendment to the energy bill which would have forced old coal plants to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.
But today, MPs failed to pass the amendment. That means the measure will have to be debated again to the House of Lords. When the debate bounces between the two houses, it is known as ‘ping pong‘.
Old coal loophole
Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel. To combat its use and ensure the UK doesn’t bust its carbon emissions targets, the government has introduced a measure known as an Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) to the Energy Bill.
The EPS requires annual greenhouse gas emissions from any new power station to be limited to 450g per kilowatt hour of electricity. That’s about half what a coal power stations emits. But there’s a loophole. Existing old coal power stations that stay open don’t have to apply the EPS, and can keep pumping out carbon dioxide.
The amendment
Green campaigners introduced an amendment to the bill that would have forced operators to apply the EPS to old coal power stations as well.
European Union legislation is forcing operators to upgrade their plants, limiting their sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, or close down. The amendment would have meant they had to apply carbon restrictions as well – or, more likely, close them down because the measure would make old coal power stations uneconomic.
The amendment originally failed to pass when it was introduced to the House of Commons. But it was introduced to the House of Lords by Labour peer Baroness Worthington and Liberal Democrat Lord Teverson. At the beginning of November, it passed.
It’s significant that Teverson was allowed to support the amendment, because he is a Liberal Democrat spokesperson on energy. This suggested the government was willing to allow the measure to pass through even though it didn’t actively support it. A significant number of Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords voted for the measure.
Failure to pass the House of Commons
But in the House of Commons, the vast majority of Liberal Democrats didn’t support the amendment. As a result it was voted down by 318 votes to 236, according to Worthington.
The debate could head into the New Year. But the government is “desperate” to get the energy bill through, according to one green campaigner. This is hardly surprising, as the longer uncertainty reigns, the longer investors will keep waiting before they make decisions on whether to put money into UK energy projects.
The failure to pass the measure also means that uncertainty still hovers over the future of coal power stations in the UK. The government argues that the EPS isn’t needed because the UK’s carbon price floor (CPF) – essentially a top-up tax to the carbon price – will make coal power economically unattractive. But the CPF may be watered down in tomorrow’s Autumn statement, according to rumours in the Spectator. If that happens, then there will be little to stop operators keeping their old coal power stations open.