LAST week, completely overshadowed by other news, the chancellor announced something very significant indeed: the breaking of the link between our domestic electricity prices and the international wholesale gas price.

This may seem a bit technical but the announcement will lead to lower bills as we transition our economy away from one dominated by fossil fuels and towards one that is based on home-grown renewable energy. The sources of that energy are multiple, including onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal and tidal.

Because of a combination of our geology and climate, the UK is one of the most renewable energy resource-rich countries in the world. And this Government is committed to taking advantage of those natural resources – today more than 50 per cent of the UK’s energy use comes from renewable energy and we need to increase that to 95 per cent.

But to sit alongside this acceleration of the industrial transition to renewables, we also need a consumer regulator that is fit for purpose.

So, this week the Labour government is announcing plans to overhaul the energy market so it properly stands up for families and businesses, who have been let down by a broken system that fails to protect them. Energy consumers have had to put up with suppliers collapsing, the scandal of the force-fitting of pre-payment meters, delays to compensation claims, and poor customer service ranging from inaccurate billing to faulty smart meters. The Government is tackling this situation with sweeping changes to the regulator.

After more than a decade of the Conservatives allowing poor behaviour from energy companies to go unchallenged, the Labour government has laid out further detail on the transformation of the energy regulator Ofgem, which will ensure consumers are treated fairly and good practice is guaranteed in the market.

The widespread reforms include: powers for Ofgem to ban energy company bosses’ bonuses if they break the rules; stronger powers for Ofgem to enforce consumer law directly, meaning it will no longer need to go through a lengthy court process to make sure customers get what they are owed if companies treat them unfairly; measures to ensure energy bosses act on behalf of consumers; reforms to the regulator’s remit to focus on economic and consumer protection and ensure every energy consumer is protected, including the ability to regulate in new areas of the market if needed.

The cost of living is the number one issue families are facing. That’s why alongside reforming the energy system, the government has acted to bring down energy bills by seven per cent this month, and we will continue to stand by families as the impacts of instability in the Middle East become clear.

With the UK facing the second fossil fuel price spike in less than five years, the only route to economic security, energy security and national security is through clean energy. And here in Cornwall with our rich range of renewable energy resources, we are ideally placed to create skilled new jobs in this growing sector.