Electric vehicles and smart meters promoted in Queen’s Speech

A key Conservative election manifesto campaign promise to impose a wide-ranging cap on energy bills was not included in the Queen’s Speech on 21 June 2017. UK Prime Minister Theresa May had promised to cap bills for from 17mn families on the worst value energy tariffs. However, it is now understood that instead of a cap, the government is most likely to extend an existing ceiling on bills for the 4mn households on prepayment meters to an additional 2.6mn more customers, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The Queen’s Speech did include a number of Bills relevant to the wider energy sector, including the establishment of new national policies on nuclear safeguards as the UK leaves the EU and Euratom; a new, modern industrial strategy; legislation aimed to make the UK a world leader on electric cars; reforms of technical education to ensure people have the skills needed for high skill high wage jobs; measures to help tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills; and continued support for international action against climate change, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Under the plans outlined in the Speech, motorway service stations and large forecourts will be required to install charge points for electric vehicles (EVs) as part of the UK government's drive to increase the number of such vehicles on roads in England, Wales and Scotland. The Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill also calls for a set of common technical and operational standards, and contains plans to promote driverless car technology, including the extension of car insurance to cover automated vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Smart Meter Bill aims to put consumers in control of their energy use, helping them understand their energy and bills, ending estimated billing and improving services for pre-paying customers. The Bill calls for smart meters to be offered to every household and business by the end of 2020, and introduces a Special Administrative Regime, which will provide insurance for the national smart meter infrastructure in the unlikely event that the company responsible for it becomes insolvent. Means-testing of the winter fuel payment was not included in the Queen’s Speech, nor was the energy price cap. However, the Speech stated that ministers are ‘considering the best way’ to protect those on the poorest-value tariffs, and suggests this could be done by regulators rather than through legislative action.