Chair: Lord Whitty
Vice-Chairs: Lord Deben, Peter Aldous MP, Julie Elliott MP.
Meetings
History of the Group
The Cross-Party Group on Energy Costs was formed in March 2024. It was originally formed in in 2013 as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Energy Costs (APPG) and historical meeting notes, reports and news items will contain references to the APPG, reflecting the name of the group at the time.
The purpose of this Group is:
- to promote evidence-based discussion on all aspects of energy costs
- to inform energy policy decisions and public debate
- to enable communication between interested parties and relevant parliamentarians
We interpret this brief broadly, to include all aspects of costs to the domestic and business consumer, the taxpayer and the industry itself.
Please note that this is not an official website of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its Committees. Cross-Party Groups are informal groups of members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. Any views expressed in these pages or in our reports are those of the Group. The Group seeks to influence the views of Parliament and of Government to better address these issues.
Group Meetings
For details of past meetings please go to the meeting notes page.
Working Group Reports
When Working Groups are formed the aim is to produce a Report intended to assist policy-makers reach decisions on best evidence.
for example, the Working Group report on the Wholesale Gas Market, published March 2015, is available here. We were grateful for the sponsorship of ICIS, Energy UK, Gas Forum, and Oil & Gas UK. The report was best summed up by the then Vice Chair of the Group, Lord Palmer: “This is the definitive guide to the British wholesale gas market. It is often discussed but seldom fully understood because the market is complex. This guide will be of great use to government, politicians and anybody who wants to comment knowledgeably on UK energy issues. The report shows the UK market to be the most competitive and transparent in Europe.”
An earlier report (from July 2014) was entitled `Smart metering: overcoming challenges’. This can be downloaded here,
Secretariat
Royal Public Affairs currently provides the secretariat for two such Groups: this one and also the Cross-Party Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood.
The secretariat does the work of organising meetings and such other activities as the Group decides to undertake. This may include, for instance, the establishment of Working Groups in order to produce reports on topics of interest.
Groups with an ambitious programme need to be funded. Many Groups are funded by a single substantial organisation who provide staff to the CPG. We prefer to have a broader base of interested parties and so request a modest annual fee. If you are interested in supporting either of these Groups please email Phil for further details.
Ethical Note
For the avoidance of all doubt, may we re-assure you that no politician has asked for, or been offered, any payment of any kind.