The government has committed to including draft legislation on Great British Energy in the first King's Speech on 17 July, at the state opening of the new parliament1. The commitment follows the Labour Party's general election victory, after which Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister and Ed Miliband was appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero1.
Great British Energy is described as a publicly owned company aimed at driving private investment in clean, home-grown energy. It would be headquartered in Scotland and would partner with industry and trade unions to co-invest in leading technologies, support capital-intensive projects deploying local energy production, and create jobs and supply chains across the UK1. The company would sit within the Energy Independence Act, which the government plans to enact to establish the framework for energy and climate policies1.
"The government have committed to including draft legislation on Great British Energy into the first King's Speech on 17 July"
The briefing sets out other stated priorities. The Labour manifesto committed to a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, by doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power and quadrupling offshore wind capacity1. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced an update to the National Planning Policy Framework removing rules that de facto ban new onshore wind farm projects, with immediate effect1. On hydrogen, £500 million was announced to support green hydrogen manufacturing, alongside a National Wealth Fund to invest in ports, hydrogen and industrial clusters1.
On home heating, the manifesto stated that nobody would be forced to rip out their boiler, with energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating addressed through the Warm Homes Plan, offering grants, low interest loans and other private finance solutions1. On gas, the position is to maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations and to deliver oil and gas licences already in progress without issuing new ones1.
The briefing also reports biomethane figures from IGEM's own connections research. At the time of that study, 124 biomethane sites were connected to the gas grid, with 29 further sites in the connections process. Connected capacity was 10.1 TWh, enough to heat over 840,000 homes, rising to 14.5 TWh and 1.2 million homes including connecting sites1. IGEM states that hybrid heating using biomethane boilers alongside heat pumps could help heat up to 6 million homes, 22 per cent of all homes in the UK; the published text renders this figure as "£6m homes"1.
| Item | Figure given |
|---|---|
| Biomethane sites connected | 124 |
| Sites in connections process | 29 |
| Capacity from connected sites | 10.1 TWh, over 840,000 homes |
| Capacity including connecting sites | 14.5 TWh, 1.2 million homes |
| Current biomethane target | 30 TWh by 2050 |
Why it matters for households
Great British Energy is a supply-side measure: it is intended to channel investment into generation rather than to change anything installed in a home. The nearer-term household effects described in the briefing come from planning changes for onshore wind and from the Warm Homes Plan, which is where grants and loans for efficiency and low carbon heating would sit1. The commitment that nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler is the stated limit on how far home heating changes would be required1. For a household weighing its own energy independence, the biomethane figures indicate a route to lower-carbon gas in the existing network without changes to heating systems, though the briefing notes that much green gas is currently burned in gas engines for electricity rather than transported in pipes to homes and businesses1.
What happens next
The draft legislation is due in the King's Speech on 17 July1. Gas network companies are to submit their 2026-2031 business plans to Ofgem at the end of 2024, and IGEM asks for a clear position on biomethane's strategic role before then1. Further detail on the department's remit is set out in the guide to DESNZ, and the wider framework in UK home energy regulation and policy.