Trade Union

Joined August 2019
The key test is whether people actually see the benefit of renewable energy on their bills. Wind and solar are producing electricity at lower cost and those savings should be passed on to consumers, not lost within a pricing system that keeps bills artificially high
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People deserve a fair return on the investment in renewables through lower energy bills. Reforming the market so that cheaper renewable electricity sets prices would be a positive step for households, businesses and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
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Rose bank now becomes the big test of Labour's committment to Net Zero.
Jackdaw WON'T: - Have any meaningful impact on UK energy security - Bring down our energy bills - Stop the decline in the North Sea jobs New oil and gas fields are simply not compatible with safe climate limits. Labour MUST reject Rosebank
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PCS is in favour of EVs not only because they should, and hopefully in the future will be charged 100% using renewables and hence good for the environment, but also that EVs are literally good for the environment in the sense they don't produce soot, noxious gases and residues.
Electrified transport has changed London forever.
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Ministers are planning to cut the budget for subsidising heat pump installations. This makes no sense. We need to reduce our reliance on gas to cut energy bills. It would weaken action to tackle climate change and be very damaging to this growing industry. theguardian.com/environment/…
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When batteries reach the stage where they can replace gas peaking plants then we have to ensure that electricity becomes cheaper. It is no good replacing one technology with another, whilst keeping high prices in place.
🔋 Battery storage is becoming cheaper than gas peaking plants, and Britain is installing it at record speed. 🇬🇧⚡ Two reports published this October highlight how quickly the economics of electricity generation and storage are changing. 📉 First, the economics. Wood Mackenzie examined 43 electricity markets worldwide and found that new four-hour battery storage is now cheaper than building new gas-fired peaking plants in every market assessed, including Europe. This is a significant milestone. Gas peaking plants have traditionally met periods of high electricity demand, particularly during the evening when demand rises and solar generation falls. But batteries can increasingly perform that role more cheaply, charging when electricity is abundant and inexpensive, then discharging when demand and wholesale prices are higher. Unlike gas turbines, batteries don’t burn fuel, have no direct operational emissions and can respond almost instantly to changes in demand. 🇬🇧 Meanwhile, Britain is installing grid-scale batteries faster than ever. According to Modo Energy, Q3 2026 was a record quarter for battery installations in Great Britain. 🔋 917 MW of new battery power capacity 🔋 1,844 MWh of additional energy storage ⚡ Total installed battery power now stands at 8.5 GW 🔋 Total energy storage capacity has reached 14.4 GWh The 500 MW Coalburn 1 battery also entered commercial operation, becoming Britain’s largest battery storage site. Britain’s battery fleet could theoretically deliver 8.5 GW for around 1 hour and 42 minutes at full output, although actual operation depends on individual battery capacities and state of charge. That’s substantial power available during peak demand without burning gas. 🌬️☀️ Why does this matter for renewable energy? One longstanding criticism of wind and solar is that they don’t necessarily generate electricity when we need it most. Battery storage helps address that problem. When it’s windy or sunny and electricity generation exceeds demand, batteries can absorb surplus electricity rather than allowing it to be curtailed. When demand rises, they can discharge that stored electricity back onto the grid. This reduces the need for gas generation, makes better use of renewable electricity and can help reduce wholesale electricity price spikes. As battery installations increase, so does our ability to shift renewable electricity from periods of abundance to periods of higher demand. 📊 But there’s still room for improvement. Britain’s existing battery fleet averages approximately 1.7 hours of storage at rated output. Batteries commissioned during Q3 averaged around two hours. Longer-duration batteries will become increasingly valuable as renewable generation expands, particularly for covering evening peaks and periods when renewable output is relatively low. Four-hour batteries cannot eliminate all backup generation, especially during prolonged periods of low wind and sunshine. But they can substantially reduce the gas generation needed for shorter peaks. And the economic case for building them is becoming stronger. 💚 The energy transition isn’t just about building more wind turbines and solar panels. It’s about building an electricity system that makes the best possible use of the clean electricity they produce. Battery storage is becoming increasingly competitive with new gas generation on cost, while Britain rapidly expands its installed storage capacity. The more renewable electricity we can store and use when needed, the less dependent we become on fossil fuels, with their volatile prices and associated carbon emissions. This isn’t some distant technological promise. It’s happening right now. Sources: Wood Mackenzie, 8 October 2026: woodmac.com/press-releases/f… Modo Energy, GB battery buildout Q3 2026: modoenergy.com/research/en/g… #BatteryStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition #UKenergy #netzero #climate
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Households need affordable energy. North Sea workers need a secure future. Jackdaw and Rosebank cannot provide a lasting answer to either challenge.
Households need affordable energy. North Sea workers need a secure future. Jackdaw and Rosebank cannot provide a lasting answer to either challenge. The oil and gas from these fields would be sold at international market prices, leaving households exposed to the same volatile fossil fuel markets. The North Sea is declining whatever happens to these projects. Over 90% of commercially viable oil and gas has already been extracted. The longer we rely on gas to heat our homes, the more we will depend on imports. Workers and communities deserve a credible plan for what comes next: investment in warmer homes, renewable power, market reforms and the grid connections needed to bring it to households.
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PCS supports this call.
BREAKING 🚨: 10 trade unions, representing millions of workers, have jointly warned Burnham to "do the right thing by the planet, UK communities and workers" and reject the controversial Rosebank oil field
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Moving to EVs and having renewables generate electricity makes sense. Sticking with gas powered electricity stations and petrol/diesel vehicles does not.
NEW | EV Adoption is booming around the world The Hormuz crisis once again revealed the risks of an energy system reliant on fossil fuels and countries are taking notice. Growing EV fleets have saved oil importers more than $20 billion since the start of the war.
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Labour whilst sticking to net zero - which is crucial, made no significant green announcements at their conference. Yet surely this summer should have acted up a wake up call as to the future before us. We have so much to do but decreasing time to do it in.
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DEFRA formally is the food security department yet as we have said before, the government is still cutting staff there. Andy Burnham's government must stop the cuts and properly resource the department so that it can take the lead in ensuring food security.
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This article explores the history of British trade union environmental politics, concentrating on the 1970s and 1980s when there was a demonstrable increase in interest in environmental debate led by energy trade unionists who primarily represented male manual workers....
'Green' and 'class' politics are often viewed as mutually hostile. My research shows how British miners, electricity workers and builders articulated a distinctive working-class environmental politics in the 1970s and 80s. You can read my new article here. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
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Very informative. However, we will not reduce our dependence on gas setting electricity prices until renewable energy projects can be connected to the grid more quickly and at a much larger scale: theguardian.com/business/ng-…
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