UK Upper House to Examine Post-Brexit Energy Security

The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee in the House of Lords, the upper (or revising) chamber of the UK Parliament, has launched a new short inquiry into the implications of Brexit for energy security in the UK, it said July 11. It will begin to take evidence in September.

"The UK and the EU have common energy needs, and rely on common rules and an energy market to help ensure a secure energy supply. Leaving the EU exposes the UK energy system to some critical uncertainties, with potential impacts for both industry and consumers," it said.

The aim of the probe is to pinpoint the issues the government will need to consider when developing a new energy relationship with the EU in order to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy. 

Areas it will consider are what the UK can learn from other non-EU countries’ experience of trading energy with the EU, such as Norway; how the single energy market on the island of Ireland could be maintained; implications of withdrawing from the Euratom Treaty; the UK’s approach to funding energy infrastructure investment; and energy research post-Brexit.

Among the concerns expressed are the prices for UK energy imports, as sellers can impose their own discriminatory tariffs on gas and electricity supplies to the UK as it will not enjoy the same terms as other EU states. 

William Powell