Wednesday 15 April 1998

UKOOA welcomes calls to lift block on gas fired stations

The UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) welcomes the call to lift the moratorium on the building of new gas-fired power stations. The recommendation, published last week in the Trade and Industry Select Committees Coal Report, also has the backing of the electricity regulator, Professor Stephen Littlechild.

In a letter sent to the President of the Board of Trade and Industry, the Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett MP, and the Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson MP, UKOOA President Steve Suellentrop confirmed the Associations support for a UK energy policy based on free market principles, fair competition and efficiency of supply.

Steve Suellentrop said: While we understand that the government will be concerned about the problems facing the coal industry, we do not believe that it is possible to disregard the economic and environmental cases being put forward by other energy sectors and independent commentators about future energy policy.

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