E.ON has welcomed the publication of the draft Energy Bill and the supporting policy documents that set out proposals for most of the comprehensive measures needed to deliver low carbon and secure energy for Britain, but cautioned that more clarity was needed in a number of areas to make sure that these measures will be effective and ultimately deliver the best value for customers.

Dr. Tony Cocker, Chief Executive of E.ON UK said: "The publication of the draft bill is an important step forward. In the last year alone we invested over £1bn in the UK and I have confidence that we are heading towards a framework that will provide the certainty needed to bring forward further low carbon energy investment and also deliver real value for our customers. We will now work through the details published in the bill and continue to ensure all proposals meet our two key considerations: Will our customers get value from this change? Will the proposals provide a robust basis for investment?

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"We have been clear from the beginning that we support the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff with Contracts for Difference as it should provide the clear investment framework needed to support new low carbon plant and provide better value for customers. However the continued uncertainty surrounding the nature of the counterparty needs to be resolved so that we have a framework which provides a robust basis for investment and brings value to our customers. We must make sure that all aspects of electricity market reform meet our simple but critical two-stage test.

"We also welcome the Government's commitment to ensure security of supply for customers through its capacity market proposals but we now need to accelerate the pace so that we have more detailed proposals later this year. In the meantime we welcome the work underway to develop an effective gas generation strategy."

E.ON will now work with the UK government as consultation continues concerning the draft bill to ensure that the measures proposed help to attract investment and deliver value for customers by making this investment as cost effective as possible.

(CD)