Labour frontbencher Ed Miliband says setting up new local energy companies could be a positive future step despite a similar effort with Robin Hood Energy ending in failure. The shadow climate change secretary visited Mansfield on Thursday to speak to college students about the Labour Party's energy policy.
Mr Miliband responded by discussing Labour's idea to create a new publicly-owned company, Great British Energy, with an aim for energy bills to be slashed and the UK becoming energy independent as a result. But discussing the need for more UK investment in the renewables sector, Mr Miliband then questioned why there couldn't be companies such as "Mansfield Energy" set up in future working alongside the national firm.
But when asked later during the visit about Robin Hood Energy's collapse, Mr Miliband said: "The difference with our GB Energy is that GB Energy is focused on the generation of the energy, Robin Hood was obviously a supplier. "It's good to have foreign investment, but 45% of our offshore wind assets are owned by foreign governments. Why shouldn't we be owning our own assets? Because then we can generate our own renewable power and that will bring jobs to areas like Mansfield."