"THERE can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." – Nelson Mandela
Given this measure of worth, how are Scots currently planning for and securing our children’s future?
A purpose that can unite almost all Scots is that we all want a better Scotland for our children, for the next generation. Tragically, for the first time in over a century, this decade will likely see a fall in a key indicator of our society’s success – life expectancy.
Our children will have shorter lives than us. There are other indicators. As well as dying earlier, many of our children will likely face crippling debt, housing shortages, fewer job prospects, job insecurity, generational poverty, raging inequality and that annual winter gamble – eat or heat. Our children deserve better. This is our collective failure. We must take the responsibility to fix it.
Underpinning all our children’s hopes is the cost and security of energy. The cost of energy underpins societal success by influencing the affordability of daily life, the viability of businesses, the efficiency of infrastructure, and overall economic prosperity.
Access to cheap and secure energy allows societies to fund essential services, maintain a high quality of life, and foster economic growth, while high or unstable energy costs stifle industry, increase household bills, and exacerbate inequality.
Scotland is firmly stuck in the latter camp, despite being one of the world’s most energy-rich nations.
Let’s take Scottish electricity prices. These are set at a UK level. UK electricity prices are amongst the highest in the developed world due to UK regulation and England’s over-reliance on natural gas, which sets the wholesale price. The UK's electricity market is priced based on the cost of the most expensive power source needed to meet demand – usually expensive imported gas.
To be clear, we set our electricity price by the most expensive unit of electricity generated to meet demand, not the weighted average, not harmonised, not cost-plus. The most expensive. Utter madness.
This is a choice made by Westminster. Given the opportunity to embark on reform of the energy market to allow energy-rich areas in Scotland to see some benefit of the bounty surrounding them, the UK Government chose to do nothing.
Scotland has long been an energy powerhouse – coal, oil and gas, renewables. London has known this for a long time, and this is why it needs Scotland. It takes our energy, sells it (expensively back to us) and returns us enough in public sector services to stop a revolution.
This return is presented to us as a deficit, which it absolutely is not. This is the same cruel Britannia sleight-of-hand used in Ireland, India, Malta, etc, which also ran "deficits" under British rule. Scotland’s energy story is a tragedy.
Scotland has a surplus of electricity, and an embarrassment of energy riches in general. So why has there been so little progress with these problems, and how can we start fixing them?
As we know, energy is a reserved matter, but there are plenty of constructive things that the Scottish Government could and should be doing to alleviate these problems, but isn’t, and I have no idea why.
What could Holyrood be doing?
- Create local authority energy companies – The Scottish Government is not allowed a National Electricity Company under devolution, but there is nothing to stop the setting up of 32 local authority energy companies. With control over planning, housing and business location as well as energy, these would be formidable economic and wealth powerhouses.
- Create a National District Heating Company – There is nothing in current legislation to stop the Scottish Government from doing this for heating. Heat is approximately a third of Scotland’s energy use and district heating companies would have a direct impact on reducing fuel poverty in urban areas.
- Compulsory community benefits and the right to invest – in energy projects (on equal or better terms) for communities, councils and individuals living within a certain radius of projects.
- Co-locate industry with local authority power stations – to take advantage of cheaper electricity.
- Relax restrictions on oil and gas – We should also work co-operatively with industry and Westminster to manage the energy transition in a more pragmatic way to monetise the assets we have, whilst still ensuring a green transition.
- Use planning and consent processes to prioritise/reward energy projects – we should reward the projects that offer the most benefits to the Scottish people, businesses and industry
The evidence of Scotland’s historical energy wealth extraction is now plain to see: coal, oil and gas, and now renewables. Our children have not felt the benefits of the wealth created from these bonanzas. Despite living atop some of the biggest natural resource discoveries the planet has seen, for centuries our children have had to leave for a better future.
However, there is now a new additional factor at play. The UK is failing. Its empire almost gone, institutions crumbling and it is up to its neck in debt.
How we treat our children is how we will be judged. Scotland’s state interests lie squarely with the future of our children. It is no longer in our children’s interest to be chained to the UK.
Energy is not only the frontline for the soul of our nation, it is the battlefield for our children’s future.
