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The government today unveils the most ambitious reforms to the country’s energy system in a generation, to make Britain energy secure, protect households from energy price spikes, reindustrialise the country with thousands of skilled jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.

In a major milestone to deliver on the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change which aims to drive economic growth and rebuild Britain with mission-driven government, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will today (Friday 13 December) set out a detailed plan for achieving the target of clean power by 2030.

The plan will provide the foundation for the UK to build an energy system that can bring down bills for households and businesses for good. The independent National Energy System Operator (NESO) set out pathways to a clean power system in 2030, and confirmed it was deliverable, more secure, and could see a lower cost of electricity, and lower bills.

The plan sets out bold measures to get more homegrown clean power to people. These include: cleaning up a dysfunctional grid system by prioritising the most important projects and ending the ‘first-come-first served’ system; speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure; and expanding the renewable auction process to stop delays and get more projects connected.

Delivering these reforms will unleash £40 billion a year of mainly private investment in homegrown clean power projects and infrastructure across the country, creating good jobs across the country including engineers, welders and mechanics.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “A new era of clean electricity for our country offers a positive vision of Britain’s future with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action. This can only happen with big, bold change and that is why the government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations.

“The era of clean electricity is about harnessing the power of Britain’s natural resources so we can protect working people from the ravages of global energy markets.

“The clean power sprint is the national security, economic security, and social justice fight of our time – and this plan gives us the tools we need to win this fight for the British people.”

Rob Gross, Director of UKERC and Advisory Board Member to the Clean Power Plan, said: “The clean power action plan will deliver the most ambitious energy reforms in a generation. I’m proud to have been involved in this commission that will focus on making the most of the UK’s natural resources, supporting good jobs and reaching clean power by 2030.

Find out more about the plan.