I’ll give you some context first of all. Wales is a nation that is rich in energy. We produce, or collect, I should say, more energy than we use, therefore, we are an energy exporter. But yet, energy prices in Wales are among the highest in Europe, and that demonstrates the situation that we’re in as a nation. Energy poverty is particularly damaging to low-income households. There’s a tendency to have ad hoc payment systems for energy, and they can’t access the best tariffs. Also, in west Wales we have a number of areas that are not on the national grid, so they depend on gas or oil that is imported. It is also true to say that although we generate electricity, we have the capacity to produce far more, particularly in terms of renewables. There are 5 million acres of land in Wales where we could produce on our coastline and on the mainland. The Welsh economy demands a great deal of electricity—we still have manufacturing plants and steelworks—and therefore we need that energy.

Creating a national energy company for Wales is an opportunity to get to the core of the issue of energy poverty, by investing in infrastructure, by coming to joint agreements and by using the power of a national company, research and development in energy, and the creation of commercial opportunities for the benefit of the people of Wales and the environment. Fracking isn’t the solution for using energy for the benefit of the Welsh economy, but a major concept such as this one that uses the whole range of the natural resources of Wales.

We’re also facing a very real threat to humanity because of climate change. Indeed, 2016 was the warmest year since records began, and we’ve just had the warmest May ever since the month-by-month statistics started to be gathered a century ago. If we are serious about a cut of 80 per cent in emissions by 2050, as is set out in the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, and to reach the target that all parties agreed on in this place of cutting carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, which is what the Paris agreement expects of us, then it means that we need to improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions from homes, businesses and transport, and it also means that we need to produce energy from cleaner and renewable sources.

Our vision, therefore, is an environment where Wales reduces its carbon emissions, harnesses its natural resources sustainably and takes opportunity in the low-carbon and circular economies. The link between energy and climate change is clear. However, unfortunately, we are still in a position where we have to wait for Westminster to give us some crumbs from their table when it comes to a matter of powers over energy.

Decisions in terms of most financial incentives for renewable energy and the future of the gas and electricity grids are mainly made in London, although we have powers to plan energy under 35 MW now. The fact is that where the grid works and where the money goes is what’s driving developments. The fact that we can permit planning—that, at the end of the day, in a way, is only a tick in a box. The decisions are made far earlier.

Now, what would a national energy company be able to do for Wales, therefore? Well, the remit of a possible company would include a reduction in unit price for energy to homes and businesses in Wales, a reduction in the quantity of energy used in businesses and homes, and helping users to make best use in terms of smart metres and so on. The task of Ynni Cymru would be to finance and install solar panels on a broad scale, on homes and businesses, on lampposts—businesses—to overlap, perhaps, a little with the discussion that we just had a moment ago here. This would be done by local companies under the national umbrella, starting, perhaps, with public buildings and social housing. The company could harmonise and facilitate the use of public land for renewable energy. It could pay for procurement and enhanced large-scale storage. It’s a chance for Wales to become an energy storer as well as a producer. It could ensure that Wales becomes self-sufficient in renewable energy, and that it exports renewable energy too. Plaid Cymru is of the view that we could do this by 2035, and that is our target.

The task of developing a national network of regional companies or local companies could be through community ownership, or on a local level. Now, this is very important. Since the Welsh Government—and this is reflected in the Welsh Government’s amendment to the debate—rejected the concept last autumn of a national energy company, as we had proposed, they have said, ‘We need community ownership of wind turbines and renewable energy developments.’ Well, how are you going to achieve that? How are you going to achieve that without local communities being misled, if you like, or ripped off, by the major energy companies—the multinationals not just the national companies. Well, Ynni Cymru, or a national company, working for the benefit of the local community and in the name of the Welsh Government, could ensure that that didn’t happen, and that community ownership could become a reality in Wales.

We would be way ahead, therefore, of some of the developments that local authorities have in England at the moment, in developing their own energy companies. And if anything, the decision to leave the European Union and of course the internal energy market in the European Union is very important—it’s not discussed a great deal. Leaving that market takes us one step further away from the fact that we can use interconnectors, share energy, share ideas, and share the same ambitions and aspirations. All of that means, in my view, that we should hasten the process of becoming self-sufficient in terms of energy. And Plaid Cymru is strongly of the opinion, as I have said, that that could be done by 2035, as well as using renewable sources to that end. All of this brings us to the situation that’s likely to arise this week.