Government urged to create Jersey energy strategy

Mark Boleat from Policy Centre Jersey says long term targets are needed

Jersey's government is under pressure to develop a long term strategy for energy production and consumption, according to an island think tank.

Mark Boleat from Policy Centre Jersey said "inertia is a problem" identified within it's report on energy policy.

He said the government understands the issues but "despite having all the facts, implementing something just seems to take forever."

He hopes in-depth research and quality discussion will "make it easier for the government to take the right decisions."

'Poor people do not buy 40K cars'

Mr Boleat said the government's subsidies have not been helping the poorest people.

A number of environmental grants are available to encourage islanders to consider buying an electric car or to switch from fossil fuel heating to more sustainable alternatives.

"In many cases it is helping people do things they would do anyway. I suspect some of the electric vehicle subsidy is going to people to buy second cars," he said.

"It is going up to £40,000. Poor people do not buy £40,000 cars. Many do not have any cars at all."

Tackling energy issues

The Policy Centre says Jersey has to address four main issues with regard to energy:

• Reducing fossil fuel use for transport and heating

• How to meet increasing demand for electricity

• If Jersey Electricity will buy power from the off shore wind farm if it is built and becomes operational

• Exploring the possibility of Jersey and Guernsey collaborating on an energy strategy

Jersey is committed to reduce emissions by 68% compared to the 1990 baseline by 2030, and to continue reducing them steadily in order to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050.

The head of Jersey Electricity, Chris Ambler, said the government needs to provide "a clear sense of direction."

"We really need to move this agenda forward," he said.

"We need to experiment with things and we need to do trials. So things like...support for EV charging, things like trials on public transport.

"We need to crack on with this stuff and we need to be a little bit brave here."

Jersey's path to meeting its environmental commitments is set out in the carbon neutral roadmap which was approved by the States Assembly on 29th April 2022, but according to the Policy Centre Jersey, the island's targets are challenging and as well as being costly.

"The evidence suggests they are not capable of being met."