Keir Starmer’s Great British Energy is in a sorry state of affairs

Keir Starmer and Labour’s Great British (GB) Energy are once again proving why only the Guardian hyped it up in various puff pieces. Juergen Maier, GB Energy chairman, was on Sky News on 3 February. He said that Starmer’s measly pledge that the vehicle would deliver 1,000 green jobs could take up to 20 years.

Great British Energy: embarrassing

Maier said:

Great British Energy itself is going to create over the next five years, 200 or 300 jobs in Aberdeen. That will be the size of our team. I have said in the very long term when we become a major energy champion it may be many more than that… Look, we grow these companies. Energy companies grow over 10 or 20 years, and we are going to be around in 20 years.

When asked whether it would take two decades to fulfil the promise, Maier responded: “absolutely”.

It looks like the Labour Party is sleeping at the wheel. One report estimates that through an investment of £69bn the government could create 1.2m green jobs in just the first two years. Instead, the government has said it will issue £8bn to GB Energy – far short of the amount necessary.

In the interview, Maier was also very reluctant to put any kind of time frame on when Labour would bring energy bills down, which it pledged to do by £300. He said:

It is not in the remit of Great British Energy to work out exactly how that energy costing gets through to the consumer

Renewable energy would greatly reduce energy bills, but GB Energy looks like a token effort that is no where near the scale we need. In 2023, the average price per unit of electricity in the UK was £127 per MWh. A renewable energy system could deliver the same at costs as low as £55 per MWh. Over time, a Green New Deal would pay for itself.

More benefits still could be achieved through public ownership of the renewable system, removing profit from the everyday essential of energy. This would also create a national, for public good monopoly that could further bring down prices through larger scale purchasing of materials. Cheaper energy would help control inflation through shielding people from volatile international gas markets and keeping prices low for all people and businesses.

Heading towards catastrophe

The past ten years have been the ten warmest years on record, with temperatures rising since the industrial revolution. Two American storms in 2024 were responsible for over $50bn in damages each – Hurricane Helene and Milton. Helene also killed 232 people. Broadly speaking, scientists have found that the climate crisis has impacted the likelihood or severity of extreme weather events in 80% of cases studied.

In 2024, there were many record-breaking climate disasters, yet Labour is sticking its head firmly in the sand. GB Energy is not going to resolve this.

Featured image via the Canary