Welsh Secretary pressed on links between Welsh MP and controversial energy company
Emily Price
The Welsh Secretary has been questioned about links between a Welsh MP and a controversial energy company.
This week, Jo Stevens faced questions in the Westminster from the Welsh Affairs Committee on her work as the Secretary of State for Wales.
During the session, Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, quizzed Stevens about Welsh Labour’s links to wind farm developers Bute Energy.
The firm is currently developing a portfolio of onshore wind and solar power energy parks across rural parts of Wales.
It’s been involved in several controversial planning applications for turbines and steel pylons in picturesque areas of the country.
Concerns
In July last year, Nation.Cymru reported how concerns were being raised that Welsh politicians were be courted by Bute.
We revealed that several Labour Senedd Members and a Welsh Labour MP had received gifts and cash from the company.
Labour MS John Griffiths had received a ticket to the FAW Women’s Cup final – then later sponsored an evening reception for the wind farm developers in the Senedd.
Labour MS Jenny Rathbone’s husband John Uden accepted a position on Bute Energy’s advisory board which was setup to help to promote onshore wind and solar energy projects in Wales.
Clwyd South MS Ken Skates and Alyn and Deeside MS Jack Sargeant had received rugby tickets from the company.
Sarageant’s wife also has links to Bute Energy as she works for Camlas – a public relations company which lists the firm as a client on its website.
Concerns were raised about the links between MSs and the energy giant whilst the Senedd was actively discussing matters that would have a material impact on Bute Energy’s proposed projects.
Cash
Our probe also found that Cardiff North MP and Assistant Government Whip Anna McMorrin had hosted Bute at an event in Westminster shortly after receiving a £3000 donation from the company.
At the time of our story, Welsh Labour said that the donations had been “declared in the proper way, in line with the relevant rules and regulations of the Senedd and UK Parliament.”
Bute Energy said that all it’s interactions with politicians had been made and declared “in full compliance” and that the company had engaged with politicians “from all political parties”.
In Westminster on Wednesday (July 10), David Chadwick asked the Welsh Secretary if her government’s desire “to keep costs down” for Bute Energy’s owner Oliver Millican had anything to do with McMorrin’s cash donation.
He said:”The question of who gets to benefit from Welsh natural resources is clearly an ongoing saga.
“Oliver Millican is a property developer who stands to make an absolute packet if his company is allowed to build wind farms all over Radnorshire.
“Bute Energy is short changing local residents through its community benefit fund and it will be paying a tiny fraction of the revenue generated from its turbines.
“Why is the government so keen to keep the cost down for Oliver Millican and his various companies – and has it been influenced by the donation his company made to the member of Cardiff North?
“Because that’s one company whose tentacles seem to reach all over this current government.”
Not appropriate
The Welsh Secretary responded saying she did not think it was “appropriate” to be asked about McMorrin’s donation, adding that it was a matter for Chadwick “to take up elsewhere”.
She said: “Our clean power mission by 2030 is designed to give us energy security, to create thousands of jobs in Wales and to bring down energy bills – for everybody in Wales and the United Kingdom.
“So there is a choice for people. They can either have the infrastructure and lower bills and energy security – or they don’t.
“That means we will have to have infrastructure in some parts of the country.
“In Wales, we will benefit hugely from the jobs the clean energy mission is going to bring – both in terms of our free ports, in terms of floating offshore wind and all the other types of energy.
“We will deliver that 2030 mission – but most importantly energy security and bringing down bills.”
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Bute Energy website is worth a look. Very slick, but thin on content. It appears to has been put together in 2023, with little updating since. No community projects or benefits listed in 2025, and no jobs either.
Heralded as one of the emergency services. I thought they were worldleaders in such developments. And employers of hundreds if not thousands of people. Have I got that wrong?
What guarantees are there that jobs will be given to welsh applicants? Huge company paying too much to MPs to get preferential treatment. Very dodgy and murky and not a good look for Welsh Labour MPs.
Let’s not forget their support crosses party lines. Haven’t they supported the Plaid conference?. Bute energy, via a parent company, even employ baroness smith, a plaid peer, on a part time basis. Mr Chadwick is raising this as an issue probably because he feels left out, but then again, he is a lib dem and yields precisely zero influence in Welsh politics
The bigger energy news this week was that labour dropped zonal pricing plans. This almost certainly would have brought Welsh energy bills down. I’m surprised there has been little to no discussion by our politicians about this
Bute playing a very canny game. Get snouts of all colours feeding from the Bute trough and just sit back and watch the approvals sail through what passes for a “process”. Lobbying remains one of our leading growth “sectors”. Shame so little effort goes into fostering growth in modern manufacturing ventures.
Why doesn’t Wales Gov stipulate that X Percentage must be paid to them in rebate? X number of jobs must go to local people and afterX number of years Wales Gov to own 50% ?
On the first point, WG does not have the legal authority to mandate rebates or interfere in the pricing models of energy suppliers. Falls under Ofgem and UK governmetns remit. On the second point, they can’t impose quotas under UK and EU competition and employment laws. However, it can attach conditions to planning approvals if rpoject is under 350MW eg community benefits programs, local job creation targets (but difficult to enforce). The best thing to do is worth with the company to identify gaps and train up locals to fill those gaps. If they’d planned ahead 10-20 years ago, there would… Read more »
Welsh Gov can levy business rates and mandate councils to rebate this via ctax.
That’s a tricky one. On wind farms I believe, renewable machinery receives full rate business reliefs until 2035. The main finance mechanism WG have (sometimes via NRW) is the actual lease on land. But if they price it too high, the development simply won’t proceed.
C/t rebates must be also come out of the local government settlement, not specific business rate income. That would need new legislation.
Those reliefs can be changed.
The company that is a world leader in undergrounding electric cables is based outside Carmarthen but all the environmental surveys are for pylons not undergrounding! There is no intention of employing local Welsh people! These are specialists international companies who are already engaged in contract negotiations.
Let’s not forget the Kinnocks link to Bute overseer’s Copenhagen Infrastructure.
Yes. This is very troubling and widely reported across the media.I have seen a letter asking for confirmation of how much his family stands to earn if this project goes ahead. I’m not aware of any formal response yet though? Would be very interested to see it if anyone is aware of the response?
MS Jenny Rathbone sat on the Climate Change Committee at the time. Whilst it appears the links were disclosed, in what other sphere of public life would that be acceptable? In other forums, one would step down and not be involved in discussions. How does this increase the electorate confidence in open and transparent governance.
The UK is the only country I believe that does not sell of the regional electric, to companies in that area to supply those people living in that area, unlike Europe, they generate electric in that mountain range, the company that owns the infrastructure in that area sells to that area, not the whole of the country, that’s how they make electric cheaper. Her we are being raped of our beautiful landscape for the electric to be sold of to the rest of the UK and Europe, the bills on average have risen by £280 a year, £150 is green… Read more »