As the Polls open today for the first Winter General Election since 1923, we all eagerly await the result.

A reminder about the main policies on Energy are outlined below, for now, the leaders can do no more but to wait........

Conservative

Plans include:

• To have Net-Zero greenhouse Gas emissions by 2050;
• use the ￡1bn Ayrton fund to develop affordable and accessible clean energy;
• increase offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030 and enable new floating wind farms;
• invest ￡800m to build the first fully-deployed carbon capture storage cluster by the mid-2020s;
• invest ￡500 million to help energy-intensive industries move to low-carbon techniques;
• support gas for hydrogen production and nuclear energy;
• not support fracking unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely;
• help lower energy bills by investing ￡9.2 billion in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals;
• introduce an oil and gas sector deal for Scotland in the move towards a net-zero economy.

Labour

Plans include:

• bring the supply arms of the big six energy companies into public ownership where they will continue to supply households with energy while helping them to reduce their energy demands;
• establish a new UK National Energy Agency to own and maintain the national grid infrastructure and oversee the delivery of decarbonisation targets;
• Create 14 new Regional Energy Agencies which will replace the existing district network operators and hold statutory responsibility for decarbonising electricity and heat and reducing fuel poverty;
• create one million jobs through a 'green industrial revolution';
• put the UK on track for a net-zero-carbon energy system within the 2030s.
• Deliver nearly 90% of electricity and 50% of heat from renewable and low-carbon sources by 2030;
• expand distributed and community energy, and immediately and permanently ban fracking.
• pledge to build 7,000 new offshore wind turbines, 2,000 new onshore wind turbines and enough solar panels to cover 22,000 football pitches;
• reinvest profits whenever public money is invested in an energy generation project;
• commit to building new nuclear power needed for energy security;
• introduce a windfall tax on oil companies and provide a strategy to safeguard the people, jobs and skills that depend on the offshore oil and gas industry;
• instruct the Committee on Climate Change to assess the emissions the UK imports as well as those it produces, and recommend policies to tackle them;
• establish a Foundation Industries Sector Council to provide a clean and long-term future for existing heavy industries like steel and glass and fund R&D into newer technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture and storage;

SNP

Plans include:

• Press for the accelerated deployment of fully operational carbon capture utilisation and storage facilities in Scotland;
• support substantial reforms to the UK tax system to support greener choices, including a greener tax deal for heating and energy efficiency improvements in homes and businesses and new vehicle and tax incentives regime for transport;
• press the UK to accelerate action to decarbonise the gas grid;
• ensure that all new homes must use renewable or low carbon heat from 2024;
• call on the UK to properly support the renewables industry or else devolve the powers to Scotland;
• Propose Green Energy Deal that will ensure renewable energy schemes get the long-term certainty needed to support investment
• oppose new nuclear power plants;
• To allow onshore wind and solar power to bid for ‘contracts for difference’ support – the UK’s main renewables support mechanism.;
• oppose fracking
• demand the UK accelerates its action to meet Scotland’s climate change targets of a 75% reduction in emissions by 2035, net zero carbon emissions no later than 2040 and net zero of all emissions by 2045;
• campaign for the UK to remain aligned with EU environmental regulations;
• press for the introduction of an Ofgem database of people who have not switched suppliers alongside a national free switching service;
• consider new legislation to cap the most expensive tariffs;

Liberal Democrat

Plans include:

• empower councils to develop community energy-saving projects, including delivering housing energy efficiency improvements street by street to cuts costs;
• reduce emissions from industrial processes by supporting carbon capture and storage and new low-carbon processes for cement and steel production;
• provide an additional ￡12bn over five years to support these commitments, and ensure that the National Infrastructure Commission, National Grid, the energy regulator Ofgem, and the Crown Estate work together to deliver the net zero climate objective.
• Ban fracking
• an emergency 10 year programme to reduce energy consumption from all the UK’s buildings, cutting emissions and fuel bills and ending fuel poverty;
• ￡5 billion of initial capital for a new Green Investment Bank, using public money to attract private investment for zero-carbon priorities;
• cut energy bills and end fuel poverty by 2025;
• reduce emissions from buildings, including by providing free retrofits for low-income homes, piloting a new subsidised Energy-Saving Homes scheme, graduating Stamp Duty Land Tax by the energy rating of the property and reducing VAT on home insulation;
• provide more advice to companies on cutting emissions, support the development of regional industrial clusters for zero carbon innovation and increase the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund;
• expand the market for green products and services with steadily higher green criteria in public procurement policy