Energy bills and net zero

What positions have MPs and peers taken on energy bills and the move to net zero over the past twelve months?

A briefing written by AI (Claude) from the Hansard records cited below, prepared 26 October 2026 from records up to 23 October 2026. Check the sources before relying on it.

In brief

• Liberal Democrats linked bills to breaking the gas–electricity price link, as when Wera Hobhouse said "the cost of electricity is set by the price of gas 97% of the time" [Source 9], while ministers pointed to measures already taken, as when Martin McCluskey said "At the Budget we committed to taking money off energy bills and we have." [Source 2]
• In the devolved parliaments, Reform and DUP members blamed net zero for high costs, as when Jonathan Buckley (DUP, Northern Ireland Assembly) said "net zero before energy security" [Source 31] was the choice made, while Green, SNP, Alliance and Sinn Féin members presented renewables as the answer.
• Committee witnesses focused on levies and electricity prices, as when Emma Pinchbeck told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee to "make electricity prices cheap, please" [Source 33].

Government ministers – defending their record

Ministers presented clean power as the route to lower bills, as when Martin McCluskey said "Our plan for clean power by 2030 will bring down wholesale prices and reduce energy bill volatility." [Source 3]

• Polly Billington, as a minister, said "Tackling affordability is this Government's number one priority" [Source 1].
• Michael Shanks (Minister for Energy), told the committee that the renewables obligation was "the way we were able to take £150 of costs off bills" [Source 32], and rejected the idea that climate action "is somehow putting up your bill" [Source 32].

Liberal Democrats – pressing for faster action

Liberal Democrats supported net zero and wanted more, as when Wera Hobhouse said the Government's warm homes plan "falls short of the scale, ambition and long-term certainty we need" [Source 9].

• Hobhouse proposed moving older renewables "off expensive renewable obligation certificates and on to cheaper contracts for difference" [Source 9].
• Pippa Heylings, who has raised the subject repeatedly, tabled EDM 146 condemning proposals to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008 [Source 23]; 26 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour member signed it [Source 23].

Conservatives and Reform – questioning costs

Conservative questions probed the Government's bill pledges, as when Claire Coutinho, who has raised the subject repeatedly, asked what the evidence basis is for the statement that the Budget energy bills package will cut bills for every family by £150 [Source 6].

• Baroness Bray of Coln asked what plans the Government has to cut household energy bills by up to £300 by 2030 [Source 14].
• Sarah Pochin (Reform UK) asked what assessment has been made of the impact of Net Zero policies on household energy bills [Source 16].

Devolved parliaments – divided

Reform and DUP members were hostile, as when Malcolm Offord (Reform, Scottish Parliament) said net zero policies had caused "terrible deindustrialisation in Scotland" [Source 26].

• Others backed renewables, as when Kate Nicholl (Alliance, Northern Ireland Assembly) said ramping up renewables is "the only viable way of breaking free from the chaos and volatility of globally traded fossil fuels" [Source 29].
• Lorna Slater (Green, Scottish Parliament) said "energy should be cheap in Scotland but, while Westminster holds the power, we cannot make that happen." [Source 24]
• Sinéad McLaughlin (SDLP, Northern Ireland Assembly) supported a decarbonisation bill but said its ambition falls short of the scale of the crisis [Source 30].

Committee witnesses – levies and prices

Witnesses stressed reforming costs on bills, as when Madeleine Gabriel of Nesta told the Scottish Affairs Committee that after the Budget changes "that is still over £100 of levies on the typical bill, and they are still skewed towards electricity" [Source 34].

• Emma Pinchbeck (Climate Change Committee) estimated that by 2050 a typical household's bill would be £700 less with a heat pump than with a gas boiler [Source 33], if electricity prices are addressed.

About the evidence: Many results are written questions without answers, so they show concerns rather than positions. No division records were supplied. The Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly decide many of these subjects for their own nations. Witness evidence is not the view of Parliament, and Conservative and Reform Westminster positions rest mostly on questions.

Sources

1. Polly Billington (Labour; MP for East Thanet, town seat (urban area of 125,000), South East; role on this date: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)) — Written answer, Commons written answers — 19 October 2026 — UIN 32001 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Heating: Prices
2. Martin McCluskey (Labour; MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, town seat (urban area of 67,000), Scotland; role on this date: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)) — Written answer, Commons written answers — 13 March 2026 — UIN 118262 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
3. Martin McCluskey (Labour; MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, town seat (urban area of 67,000), Scotland; role on this date: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)) — Written answer, Commons written answers — 13 November 2025 — UIN 88872 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
4. Chris McDonald (Labour; MP for Stockton North, city seat (Teesside urban area, 377,000 people), North East; role on this date: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade); Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)) — House of Commons — 10 February 2026 — col. 669 — Energy Security and Net Zero — Businesses: Cost of Energy
5. Polly Billington (Labour; MP for East Thanet, town seat (urban area of 125,000), South East; role on this date: backbencher) — House of Commons — 2 June 2026 — col. 979 — Energy Security and Net Zero — Household Energy Bills
6. Claire Coutinho (Conservative; MP for East Surrey, rural seat, South East; role on this date: Shadow Minister (Equalities); Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero) — has raised this subject repeatedly (on several separate days) — Written question, Commons written answers — 10 December 2025 — UIN 97259 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
7. Claire Coutinho (Conservative; MP for East Surrey, rural seat, South East; role on this date: Shadow Minister (Equalities); Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero) — has raised this subject repeatedly (on several separate days) — Written question, Commons written answers — 13 November 2025 — UIN 88872 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
8. Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat; MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, town seat (urban area of 30,000), East of England; role on this date: Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Science, Innovation & Technology)) — Written question, Commons written answers — 19 June 2026 — UIN 8943 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
9. Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat; MP for Bath, town seat (urban area of 95,000), South West; role on this date: backbencher) — House of Commons — 19 March 2026 — col. 1090 — Backbench Business — Climate Change
10. Wendy Morton (Conservative; MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, city seat (West Midlands urban area, 2.4m people), West Midlands; role on this date: Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)) — Written question, Commons written answers — 6 February 2026 — UIN 109113 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — National Grid: Carbon Emissions
11. Barry Gardiner (Labour; MP for Brent West, city seat (Greater London urban area, 8.1m people), London; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 1 June 2026 — UIN 2680 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Carbon Emissions: Data Centres
12. Carla Lockhart (DUP; MP for Upper Bann, town seat (urban area of 72,000), Northern Ireland; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 5 June 2026 — UIN 2201 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Industry: Competition and Energy
13. David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat; MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, rural seat, Wales; role on this date: Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Wales)) — has raised this subject repeatedly (on several separate days) — Written question, Commons written answers — 9 December 2025 — UIN 95767 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
14. Baroness Bray of Coln (Conservative; member of the House of Lords; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Lords written answers — 3 August 2026 — UIN HL2292 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
15. Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative; MP for Huntingdon, rural seat, East of England; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 8 June 2026 — UIN 5128 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme
16. Sarah Pochin (Reform UK; MP for Runcorn and Helsby, town seat (urban area of 63,000), North West; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 24 June 2026 — UIN 10358 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
17. Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative; MP for Huntingdon, rural seat, East of England; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 1 July 2026 — UIN 12604 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme: Housing
18. Shivani Raja (Conservative; MP for Leicester East, city seat (Leicester urban area, 509,000 people), East Midlands; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 8 September 2026 — UIN 22545 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
19. Navendu Mishra (Labour; MP for Stockport, city seat (Greater Manchester urban area, 2.5m people), North West; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 23 June 2026 — UIN 9714 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Natural Gas: Prices
20. Harriet Cross (Conservative; MP for Gordon and Buchan, rural seat, Scotland; role on this date: backbencher) — Written question, Commons written answers — 8 December 2025 — UIN 96462 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Energy: Prices
21. Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat; MP for South Cambridgeshire, rural seat, East of England; role on this date: Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Energy Security and Net Zero)) — has raised this subject repeatedly (on several separate days) — Written question, Commons written answers — 22 May 2026 — UIN 1017 — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero — Renewable Energy: Industry
22. Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker; MP for Chorley, city seat (Preston urban area, 313,000 people), North West; role on this date: Chair, House of Commons Commission; Chair, Members Estimate Committee; Chair, Restoration and Renewal Client Board Committee; Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority; Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission; Chair, Speaker's Conference (2024) Committee) — House of Commons — 7 July 2026 — col. 153 — Energy Security and Net Zero — Climate Change: Weather Events
23. EDM 146, tabled 18 May 2026 by Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat) — Climate Change Act 2008
24. Lorna Slater (Green, Edinburgh Central) — Scottish Parliament — 28 May 2026 — Scotland’s Energy
25. Bill Kidd (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Anniesland) — Scottish Parliament — 11 December 2025 — Portfolio Question Time — Net Zero Policies (Cost)
26. Malcolm Offord (West Scotland) (Reform) — Scottish Parliament — 28 May 2026 — Scotland’s Energy
27. Rebecca Evans (Labour, Gower) — Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) — 25 March 2026 — 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning — Net Zero and Economic Growth
28. John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann) — Northern Ireland Assembly — 28 April 2026 — Oral Answers to Questions — Finance — Net Zero Climate Policies: Costs
29. Kate Nicholl (Alliance, Belfast South) — Northern Ireland Assembly — 24 March 2026 — Private Members' Business — Energy Security: Renewables
30. Sinéad McLaughlin (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Foyle) — Northern Ireland Assembly — 28 April 2026 — Executive Committee Business — Utility Regulator (Support for Decarbonisation Preparation) Bill: Second Stage
31. Jonathan Buckley (DUP, Upper Bann) — Northern Ireland Assembly — 13 April 2026 — Matters of the Day — Energy Prices
32. Michael Shanks MP (Minister for Energy, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) — Oral evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee — 2 September 2026 — Reviewing the electricity market
33. Emma Pinchbeck (Chief Executive, Climate Change Committee) — Oral evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee — 3 December 2025 — Building support for the energy transition
34. Madeleine Gabriel (Mission Director (Sustainable Future Mission), Nesta) — Oral evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee — 4 February 2026 — GB Energy and the net zero transition