Why development delivery depends on energy independence

1 September 2026

The Energy Independence Bill should provide the certainty needed to accelerate development for homes, businesses, renewable energy, storage and grid investment alike, says Stuart Campbell, head of energy transactional services at Carter Jonas.

The case for energy independence has only become stronger. The government describes the UK as facing the second fossil fuel shock in half a decade, and states that the country needs to get off what it calls the ‘fossil fuel rollercoaster’, utilising clean, homegrown power and the electrification of the wider economy.

Geopolitical instability, including the ongoing conflict involving Iran, has reinforced the political and economic importance of energy security. Recent volatility in global oil and gas markets has again exposed the UK’s continued exposure to international fossil fuel pricing, contributing to renewed concern around household energy bills, inflation and the wider cost-of-living crisis.

As a result, there is increasing pressure on the government to accelerate the deployment of domestic renewable generation – specifically solar and wind – and reduce reliance on imported energy markets. At the same time, ministers remain under considerable pressure to deliver meaningful reductions in energy costs for households and businesses. High electricity prices are increasingly seen not only as a consumer issue, but as a constraint on economic growth, industrial competitiveness and investment.

What’s included 

The Energy Independence Bill is intended to provide a framework to help government go further and faster in delivering clean energy. The agenda has been framed around tackling the affordability crisis and protecting consumers, accelerating the UK’s drive for energy security, and delivering a fair, managed and prosperous transition to clean energy.

The Bill will pave the way for the Warm Homes Agency, a dedicated public body to help deliver the £15 billion Warm Homes Plan. It will introduce new rules requiring landlords to invest in home upgrades to cut bills for renters and social tenants, give Ofgem new consumer protection powers including the regulation of energy brokers and third-party intermediaries and enable targeted support for low-income and vulnerable households when needed.

It is expected that the Bill will reform market, planning and regulatory frameworks to accelerate the deployment of clean power, including offshore wind, hydrogen and smart grid technologies. It will also seek to speed up the build-out of vital grid infrastructure through measures to reduce unnecessary delays, including reforms to land access rules and network consenting. In addition, it introduces powers intended to support a more strategic approach to planning and building energy infrastructure and operating the electricity system more efficiently. The Bill will also enable the removal of charges on electricity exported to the grid and allow discounted energy at times of excess generation, with the aim of giving households more control over bills and creating a more flexible energy system.

Encouraging investment

For landowners, certainty remains critical. Many rural estates and farming businesses are increasingly engaging with renewable energy projects as part of wider diversification and stewardship strategies. A stable policy environment would provide confidence for long-term decision-making, investment and partnership arrangements.

The Bill is also important in the context of new towns and wider residential and commercial development in all contexts. Its focus on accelerating clean energy deployment, improving grid infrastructure and taking a more strategic approach to energy planning is relevant well beyond the energy sector itself. The capacity to deliver homes, employment space, data centres, advanced manufacturing, electrified transport and other growth-related development increasingly depends on the availability of power and the ability to connect to the grid.

For developers, a more streamlined and coordinated policy framework could improve confidence around project delivery and investment timelines. For landowners, the continued expansion of the energy sector is likely to create further opportunities for long-term income diversification, particularly where landholdings are well located in relation to grid infrastructure.

Challenges

However, despite strong policy support, the sector continues to face major challenges around grid capacity and connections reform. The transition to the National Energy System Operator’s reformed grid connection process has introduced a degree of short-term uncertainty and delay across parts of the development pipeline, as projects await greater clarity on connection prioritisation and delivery timescales.

The growing importance of demand connections must also be recognised. Data centres, advanced manufacturing and electrified transport are all increasing pressure on the electricity system. Strategic energy planning therefore needs to take a whole-system approach, looking at generation, storage, transmission and demand together.

The Bill’s proposed reforms to planning, regulation, land access and network consenting are therefore particularly important. If these measures are implemented effectively, they could help reduce unnecessary delays and provide a clearer framework for nationally important energy infrastructure. But the sector will need to see the detail of how those powers will operate in practice.

Implementation

While the ambition is substantial, the practical challenge will remain implementation. The industry is already experiencing disruption associated with NESO’s connections reforms and many projects continue to face long lead times despite strong policy support. The market will therefore be looking not only for ambition, but for credible delivery mechanisms.

The Bill would need to go beyond existing policy statements and strategic ambitions by creating a stronger statutory and delivery framework for implementation. National Policy Statements and the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan already establish the broad direction of travel, but much of the sector’s current challenge is not a lack of ambition. It is the gap between ambition and delivery.

In practical terms, it could place aspects of energy security and infrastructure delivery on a clearer legislative footing, create stronger obligations around grid reinforcement and improve coordination between generation, storage and transmission infrastructure. 

If implemented effectively, the Bill could further accelerate investment into renewable energy and associated infrastructure, particularly across solar, battery storage and grid-related development. This is likely to increase competition for suitable land, strengthen the strategic importance of grid-connected sites and continue to drive activity across rural and development markets. Energy security, affordability and infrastructure delivery are now central themes of UK energy policy. ▄