The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Chris Huhne)

I am today publishing a technical update to the electricity market reform White Paper “Planning our electric future: a white paper for secure, affordable and low-carbon electricity” 1 . The update complements the White Paper published in July 2011 and follows the release of the carbon plan on 1 December 2011, which set out the Government’s long-term plans for UK decarbonisation—making a transition to a low-carbon economy while maintaining energy security and minimising cost to consumers. Electricity market reform is a key tool for achieving this long-term carbon plan.

The electricity market reform White Paper set out key measures to encourage investment in new generating and non-generation capacity (such as demand-side response and storage), reduce the impact on customer bills, and create a secure mix of electricity sources which meets increased demand. This includes supporting the introduction of renewables, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear to meet our low-carbon commitments. The White Paper marked the first stage of the reform process, with a commitment to provide a technical update around the turn of the year. Today I am publishing that update, which completes the strategic framework, setting out:

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