THE CHIEF of Electricity North West says work needs to be done now if bills are to stay affordable as the Government sets out its Energy White Paper.

The Government last week laid announced plans to “clean up the energy system; support up to 220,000 British jobs, and keep bills affordable" as part of a transition to net zero by 2050.

Peter Emery, chief executive officer at the utility firm, said: “The Government has said that now is the time to shift from ambition to action on climate change and we couldn’t agree more.

“As this White Paper points out, our use of electricity is set to double over the next 30 years as we transition to greener technologies like electric vehicles and heating.

“Work needs to be under way right now if we are to do that while still keeping bills affordable for consumers and that’s why we have already invested millions of pounds in increasing the capacity of the network here in the North-West.

“Spades are already in the ground on some of our major projects to upgrade the electrical infrastructure.

“Customers are telling us loud and clear they want us to take a proactive approach to decarbonisation, and we believe that doing so will not only help our environment - hitting net zero targets is achievable – even when they are as ambitious as those here in the North-West.

“But it will only happen if we take all the levers available to us and pull them all to the max.

“We are committed to doing our bit and we look forward to seeing the steps laid out in this White Paper supporting that work.”