HC Deb 20 March 2000 vol 346 cc413-4W
Mrs. Brinton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is his estimate of the extra electricity requirement to supply the proposed new housing build in the South-East; [114184]

(2) what is his estimate of the extra electricity transmission lines and their cost, that will be needed by new-build homes in the South-East. [114186]

Mrs. Liddell

No such estimate has been made.

Mrs. Brinton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to encourage the building of new power stations in the South East. [114185]

Mrs. Liddell

As was made clear in the October 1998 White Paper the Government intend to leave the initiative for proposals for new generation capacity entirely to developers. Power stations are run by private companies which must make market investment decisions, subject to the usual environmental and planning/consent constraints. It is therefore a matter for power station developers to consider where they wish to locate their stations.