NICOLA Sturgeon has said that Scotland would still be facing the energy crisis if her government had managed to fulfill an election promise to create a nationalised energy company.
The unrealised pledge was made in October 2017 and set out the intention to create a not-for-profit energy company that would provide Scots with cheap gas and electricity.
Sturgeon defended the failure to do so during a visit to Aberdeen on Monday, where she referenced the pandemic, saying it “disrupted all sorts of things that governments across the world were planning to do”.
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The First Minister also said that the powers to make a “meaningful intervention” in the energy crisis were still reserved to Westminster.
Sturgeon said: “I think people should be clear that notwithstanding that – and it’s right and proper for the Scottish Government to be scrutinised – had that been different, we’d still be facing this energy crisis and the powers to make a meaningful intervention on that would still lie with the UK government.”
She added that her government would proceed with alternative plans to create a new public energy agency.
Sturgeon’s comments come before her scheduled meeting with energy suppliers on Tuesday, where she will urge them to alleviate the effects of the crisis on households.
During the same visit, the First Minister said she supported the UK Treasury in looking at the “disproportionate impact” that those in the northeast and Highlands were facing amid the crisis.
Future plans for Scotland’s energy are set to become clearer as the Government is looking to publish an energy paper as part of its series outlining the case for independence.
However, Sturgeon has said that the exact date for the paper’s publication is “not yet determined”.
During her Aberdeen visit, she also said that new offshore wind power developments will be “crucial” as Scotland looks to become “one of the net-zero capitals of Europe”.
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