NIGHT-MAIER
Ed Miliband’s promise of 1,000 green jobs will not be met for 20 years, bungling energy boss admits
Sir Keir Starmer vowed that the green quango would help cut energy bills by as much as £300
A PROMISE of 1,000 green jobs at Ed Miliband’s GB Energy will not be met for TWENTY years, its bungling boss admits.
State-owned power firm chief Juergen Maier adds that only 200 to 300 jobs could be created in the next five years in a major humiliation.
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Sir Keir Starmer vowed that the green quango to be based in Aberdeen would help cut energy bills by as much as £300 - but Mr Maier couldn’t give a precise date of when.
GB Energy will not supply energy homes but will seek investment and private investment in the renewables push.
Mr Miliband has previously said the company will make Britain a “clean-energy superpower” as they push for a decarbonised energy system by the end of the decade.
But the climbdown comes after Energy Minister Michael Shanks recently said the UK had “not moved away” of creating 1,000 jobs.
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Mr Maier told Sky News: “Great British Energy itself is going to create over the next five years, 200 or 300 jobs in Aberdeen.
“That will be the size of our team. I have said in the very long term when we become a major energy champion it may be many more than that.”
When asked by Sky News to define long-term, he added: “Look, we grow these companies. Energy companies grow over 10 or 20 years, and we are going to be around in 20 years.”
Maier said “absolutely” when pressed on whether it could take twenty years to reach the 1,000 jobs target at GB Energy.
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Former Tory Energy Minister Graham Stuart said: “Juergen Maier is an honest and decent man. He knows Labour’s new energy quango won’t cut bills by £300 nor will it create the jobs promised by Keir Starmer.”
He added: “He’s just not allowed to say so.”
Acting Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie posted: “Well, at least the honesty is refreshing!”
Bowie added: “This revelation underlines that GB Energy is nothing more than a gimmick in an attempt to distract from the danger Labour’s policies pose to northeast jobs and our energy security.
“Suspicions that GB Energy would bring nothing more to Aberdeen than a small office with a plaque are proving to be absolutely correct.”
Maier also shied away when probed on meeting Labour’s drive to Net Zero to meet the promise of cutting households’ energy bills by £300.
He said the plan was to “save families hundreds of pounds on their bills, not just in the short term, but for good”.
The former Siemens boss said: “It is not in the remit of GB Energy to work out exactly how that energy costs then gets through to the consumer.
“Consumers were pledged that GB Energy is going to help bring those energy prices down and we will.’
When asked for a date, he sid: “I’m giving you an answer. More renewable energy is bringing peope’s energy bills down.’
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“I know that you are asking me for a date as to when I can bring that. GB Energy has only just been brought into creation...”
Downing Street insisted the change will not "happen overnight" but that Labour's ambition is clear.
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