Energy Policy Board minutes

Summary

A request was made for all agendas and minutes of the Energy Policy Board since its formation, resulting in the disclosure of some documents while parts were withheld under exemption.

Key Facts

• The Cabinet Office responded to the request on 2025-01-10 with a partial disclosure outcome.
• Agendas for meetings held between October 2023 and September 2024 were included in the response.
• Full minutes were provided for the meeting held on 4th March 2024.
• The Energy Policy Board is a sub-committee of the Council of Ministers.
• Key attendees include the Chief Minister, Treasury Minister, and Infrastructure Minister.

Data Disclosed

• 2024-10-29
• 2025-01-10
• 23 October 2023
• 06 November 2023
• 27 November 2023
• 12 January 2024
• 04 March 2024
• 17 June 2024
• 16 September 2024
• 22 July 2024
• 46 pages
• 2 documents
• 008/24
• 009/24
• 010/24

Original Request

Please provide copies of all agendas and minutes for the Energy Policy Board since its formation

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 23 October 2023 at 3pm Council Chamber

1. Apologies

Standing item

1. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

1. Terms of Reference

Herewith

1. Energy Strategy 2023

Herewith

Summary overview Herewith

1. Offshore Wind – KPMG

Herewith

4. Orsted

Crogga

Onshore Energy

Any other business Herewith

Herewith

Herewith

Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 06 November 2023 at 3pm Council Chamber

1. Apologies

Standing item

1. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

1. Orsted

Herewith

1. Minutes of previous meeting

Standing item

Matters arising Standing item

6(a). Papers for decision

Crogga

Herewith

Any other business Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 27 November 2023 at 3pm Council Chamber

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

3(a).

3(b). Minutes of previous meetings

EPB 6th November

EPB LOG 20th November Standing item

Herewith

Herewith

Matters arising Standing item

5(a).

5(b) Items for noting

Project updates

Onshore wind presentation

Herewith

6(a).

Any other business

Tynwald Motion Standing item

Herewith

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 12 January 2024 at 11:00am Council Chamber

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

3. Minutes of previous meeting

Matters Arising

Presentation Standing item

Standing item

Herewith

2030 Options Paper Herewith

3. For Noting – Ministerial Statement

Agreement of Next Meeting

Any other business Herewith

Herewith

Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 04 March 2024 at 13:00pm Council Chamber

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

3(a).

3(b).

2. Minutes of previous meeting

Board 12th January 2024

LOG 5th February 2024

Matters Arising

Crogga Standing item

Herewith

Herewith

Standing item

Herewith

Project Updates Standing item

1. Any other business

Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 17 June 2024 at 13:00pm Committee Room

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

3. Minutes of previous meeting

Matters Arising

Project update Standing item

Standing item

Standing item

MUA Second Interconnector

MUA NDA with Orsted

Presentation by Crogga Herewith

Herewith

Herewith

1. Any other business

Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 16 September 2024 at 14:00pm King Orry Room

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

5. Minutes of previous meeting

Matters Arising

Project update

Energy Strategy

Solar PV Standing item

Standing item

Standing item

Herewith

Herewith

Any other business Standing item

CONFIDENTIAL Agenda for meeting of the Energy Policy Board 22 July 2024 at 14:00pm Committee Room

1. Apologies Standing item

2. Declarations of conflicts of interest

Standing item

3. Minutes of previous meeting

Matters Arising

Project update Standing item

Standing item

Standing item

Any other business Standing item

Confidential

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Minutes of a meeting of the Council of Ministers’ Sub-Committee – Energy Policy Board (“EPB”) –
held in the Council Chamber on 4th March 2024 at 13:00

Present: Hon. Alfred Cannan MHK, Chief Minister

Hon. Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Treasury Minister

Hon. Tim Crookall, Infrastructure Minister

Hon. Clare Barber, DEFA Minister Mr J Wannenburgh, Chair of Manx Utilities Authority

Caldric Randall, Chief Financial Officer

Emily Curphey, CO DoI

Scott Gallacher, CO DEFA

Megan Mathias, COO CO

Walter Wannenburgh, Attorney General

Elizabeth Smith, Solicitor General

Phil King, CEO MUA

Emma Rowan, Senior Infrastructure Policy Officer, DoI

Steve Forden, Head of Energy Policy, DEFA

Mark Syme, Project Manager BCS Jonathan Platten, Head of Economic Advisory Notes taken by Anna Goldsmith – Head of Policy Development, CO

Apologies: Andy Ralphs, CEO (IoM Gov)

008/24 Declarations of Conflicts of Interest

Those present declared no apparent conflict of interest.

009/24 Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes from the meeting held on 12th January 2024 were agreed subject to correction of the following typos:
 Chair of MUA is Mr J Wannenburgh MHK  Change NTSA to NSTA

010/24 Matters Arising

Legislative Gap Analysis – Access to UK CFD’s

Secondary legislation – timeline

LOG Collate Financial Risks and Opportunities

Mr Forden confirmed that this action feeds into the paper to be discussed later in the meeting. Confidential

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Confidential

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Minutes of a meeting of the Council of Ministers’ Sub-Committee – Energy Policy Board (“EPB”) –
held in the Council Chamber on 17th June 2024 at 13:00

Present: Hon. Alfred Cannan MHK, Chief Minister

Hon. Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Treasury Minister

Hon. Tim Crookall MHK, Infrastructure Minister

Hon. Clare Barber MHK, DEFA Minister (via Teams) Mr J Wannenburgh MHK, Chair of Manx Utilities Authority

Sarah De-Yoxall, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Treasury

Emily Curphey, Chief Officer, Department of Infrastructure

Scott Gallacher, Chief Officer, Department of the Environment, Food & Agriculture

Elizabeth Smith, Solicitor General

Phil King, CEO, Manx Utilities Authority

Emma Rowan, Senior Infrastructure Policy Officer, Department of Infrastructure (via Teams)

Steve Forden, Head of Energy Policy, Department of the Environment Food & Agriculture

Mark Syme, Project Manager, Cabinet Office

Tom Randall, Policy Project Co-ordinator, Cabinet Office (Secretariat)

Apologies: Andy Ralphs, CEO (IoM Gov) Caldric Randall, Chief Financial Officer Walter Wannenburgh, Attorney General

014/24 Declarations of Conflicts of Interest

Those present declared no apparent conflict of interest.

015/24 Minutes of Previous Meeting 4 March 2024

The Board noted and approved the minutes of the last meeting.

016/24 Matters Arising

Legislative Gap Analysis – Access to UK CFD’s

This item can be removed.

Orsted scoping opinion

This item can be removed.

CfD subsidy claim risk

It was noted that work has started with the Attorney General’s Chambers (“AGC”) to form a legal opinion and is still ongoing.

Analysis on need and cost for 2nd interconnector

Being delivered through the ongoing work on financing the net zero transition

MUA financial picture for onshore renewables

Being delivered through the ongoing work on financing the net zero transition

Prioritisation message
Confidential

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020/24

020/24

Any Other Business

The Chief Officer, DOI, informed the Board that the variation is substantially drafted.

ACTION – Secretariat to organise the Board’s next meeting for the end of July.

             There being no further business to discuss, the meeting concluded at 2.47pm

Signed:

Hon A L Cannan MHK, Chief Minister, Chair

Date:

Confidential

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Minutes of a meeting of the Council of Ministers’ Sub-Committee – Energy Policy Board (“EPB”) –
held in the Committee Room on 22nd July 2024 at 14:00

Present: Hon. Alfred Cannan MHK, Chief Minister

Hon. Tim Crookall MHK, Infrastructure Minister

Hon. Clare Barber MHK, DEFA Minister (via Teams) Mr J Wannenburgh MHK, Chair of Manx Utilities Authority

Emily Curphey, Chief Officer, Department of Infrastructure

Scott Gallacher, Chief Officer, Department of the Environment, Food & Agriculture (via Teams) Walter Wannenburgh KC, His Majesty’s Attorney General

                Elizabeth Smith KC, His Majesty’s Solicitor General

Phil King, CEO, Manx Utilities Authority

Mark Syme, Project Manager, Cabinet Office Tom Randall, Policy Project Co-ordinator, Cabinet Office (Secretariat)

Apologies: Hon. Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Treasury Minister Andy Ralphs, CEO (IoM Gov) Caldric Randall, Chief Financial Officer Steve Forden, Head of Energy Policy, Department of the Environment Food & Agriculture Sarah De-Yoxall, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Treasury Jonathan Platten, Head of Economic Advisory, Treasury Emma Rowan, Senior Infrastructure Policy Officer, Department of Infrastructure (via Teams)

022/24 Declarations of Conflicts of Interest

Those present declared no apparent conflict of interest.

023/24 Minutes of Previous Meeting 17 June 2024

The Board noted and approved the minutes of the last meeting.

024/24 Matters Arising

CfD subsidy claim risk

Analysis on need and cost for 2nd interconnector

As the Head of Energy Policy was not present, no update was provided.

MUA financial picture for onshore renewables

As the Head of Energy Policy was not present, no update was provided.

Legislation upon completion of gap analysis

As the Head of Energy Policy was not present, no update was provided.

025/24

Project Update

Confidential

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 Action 3 could be marked as completed;

 Action 4(a) is in progress;

 Action 4(b) should not commence until there was certainty that the hydrocarbon project would continue to progress;

 Action 5 was ongoing;

 Action 6 -

 Action 7 was in progress, as ESB had requested sight of the letter prior to it being sent to KPMG which had delayed the letter being sent out;

 Action 8 – the Chief Minister queried whether this should be taken beyond DEFA. The CO of DEFA advised that it would likely need to be wider, however further discussions should take place with Ørsted to identify suitable individuals or organisations to contact;

 Action 9 –

ACTION – SF to identify solutions to address resourcing gaps

The Treasury Minister reiterated the importance of ensuring IoM Government was able to comply with Ørsted timelines in order to ensure the project could remain on track.

 Action 10 could be marked as completed.

015/23 Papers for Noting

(a) Crogga Confidential

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016/23 Any Other Business

The Board agreed that the next meeting would take place at 3pm on Monday 27th November.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting concluded at 17:02.

Signed:

Hon A L Cannan MHK, Chief Minister, Chair

Date:

Confidential

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024/23 Matters Arising

The Head of Energy Policy provided updates across the various workstreams: noting that

(a) Hydrocarbon Gap Analysis

Confidential

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Action – DoI to notify Local Authorities of the upcoming consultation on the principles of MIMA regulations

(f) Resourcing

This could be marked as completed

(g) Onshore Wind Presentation

This could be marked as completed

(h) Compensation

ACTION – CO of DoI to circulate the Ministerial Statement setting out the terms of compensation payable

(i) Financial Risks & Opportunities

The Head of Energy Policy advised that a paper on governance, including a Risk Register, would be submitted to the Board at the next meeting and would become a standing item thereafter.

025/23 Any Other Business

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting concluded at 16:28.

Signed:

Hon A L Cannan MHK, Chief Minister, Chair

Date:

Confidential

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Confidential

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Minutes of a meeting of the Council of Ministers’ Sub-Committee – Energy Policy Board (“ESB”) –
held in the Council Chamber on 23rd October 2023 at 15:00

Present: Hon. Alfred Cannan MHK, Chief Minister

Hon. Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Treasury Minister

Hon. Tim Crookall MHK, Infrastructure Minister

Hon. Clare Barber MHK, DEFA Minister

Caldric Randall, Interim Chief Executive Officer (IoM Government) & Chief Financial Officer

Scott Gallacher, Chief Officer, DEFA

Emily Curphey, Chief Officer, DoI

Phillip King, CEO Manx Utilities Authority

Walter Wannenburgh, Attorney General

Elizabeth Smith, Solicitor General

Steve Forden, Head of Energy Policy, DEFA

Jonathan Platten, Head of Economic Advisory, Treasury

Mark Syme, Project Manager, Business Change Services

Emma Rowan, Senior Infrastructure Policy Officer, DoI (via MS Teams)

Juan Bellando (Note taker)

Apologies:

001/23 Declarations of Conflicts of Interest

002/23 ToR

The Treasury Minister suggested that in paragraph 3.4(e), ‘any other renewables’ should be added in to catch all methods of renewable energy generation. The Treasury Minister also requested that paragraph 4.3 should include a representative from the Climate Change Board to be called in as and when required.

The Board agreed to meet monthly or as otherwise required.

The DEFA Minister requested confirmation that the energy efficiency scheme would not be in the scope of the Board, and as a result paragraph 2.2 should read ‘Energy Policy (Power) areas’ as this aligned with the Energy Strategy.

Encompassing the aforementioned amendments, the Terms of Reference were approved.

003/23 Overview slides

The Interim CEO provided an overview of the objectives of the meeting which were:

 To obtain an understanding

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