If we are serious about tackling climate change as one of the greatest threats facing humanity, then we must first of all reduce our energy use—that’s always the starting point when it comes to energy policy—but then increase the percentage of energy that is produced from renewable sources. Plaid Cymru’s aim in order to enable us to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, and 40 per cent by 2020, is to produce as much energy as is used in Wales from renewable sources by 2035, and Ynni Cymru would have a key role to play in achieving that particular ambition.

As we’ve heard, in the last Assembly the Environment and Sustainability Committee produced a report entitled, ‘A Smarter Energy Future for Wales’, and it received cross-party support. What it was in reality was a blueprint in terms of moving this agenda forward. It suggested ways of achieving the economic potential that emerges from using our natural resources in a responsible and sustainable manner, and creating jobs and wealth for the people of Wales in so doing. It allows us to tackle the issue of fuel poverty, to clearly tackle climate change and also, of course, to empower local communities to be far more proactive and far more engaged in deciding their own energy futures. Wales doesn’t have to wait for further powers from Westminster in this area before delivering much of what is contained within the committee’s vision. We could start on much of this work now, and far more of it should have already been commenced over a year ago.

One of the committee’s recommendations in that report was to create an umbrella not-for-profit energy company. We heard that local authorities across England have established such companies. We know of examples in Bristol and in Nottingham, and of course we can use that in order to target and tackle fuel poverty. We know that, in Nottingham, Robin Hood Energy offers a particular tariff for residents of Nottingham only, but also within that they can set lower rates in specific areas where there is a great deal of fuel poverty.

That isn’t to say that nothing is happening in Wales. We know in Bridgend council, for example, about the local heat networks there. Wrexham council has already done a great deal in terms of solar energy. But this should be the norm rather than exceptions, as is too often the case. The creation of a national energy company for Wales would be a chance for us to get to the core of some of these issues of fuel poverty, to invest in infrastructure, to undertake joint bargaining and energy generation, to strengthen research and development in energy, and in so doing create those commercial opportunities that will bring broader benefits to the people of Wales, never mind, of course, the environmental benefits.

Reducing demand for energy is a very important way and a key part of that process of moving to a smarter energy future, and we know that households in the UK spend some 80 per cent of their energy cost on heating rooms and heating water in homes. We therefore need to ensure that homes are as efficient as possible in terms of energy usage. We know that there are schemes such as Arbed and Nest making a contribution, but as I’ve said time and time again, they are nowhere near enough in terms of responding to the scale of the challenge facing us and the level of investment that’s truly required when it comes to that agenda. But I would certainly feel that Ynni Cymru would have a role in that area in terms of encouraging and educating people on how to tackle this whole agenda.

So, we need to move away—and I’ve said this previously, but I can’t make the point strongly enough. We have to move away from this hub-and-spoke model of energy production, where energy is produced in large centralised power stations and is transferred inefficiently, in a very costly way, across an ageing grid, which is creaking very often. We need to move to a model of a grid that is more of a spider’s web—a smarter grid with the energy being produced closer to where it is to be consumed. Ynni Cymru could certainly be part of that transformation. It could also look at new storage systems in homes and on a civic level—[Interruption.] I have only 10 seconds left, unfortunately. We also need to look at the planning system, and the committee’s report has done that. My plea is that the template and the blueprint are in place; what we need now is the political will to drive this agenda forward.