Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech on clean energy (Image: PA)
The boss of GB Energy has repeatedly refused to say when household prices would be slashed by Sir ’s flagship green election pledge.
The Prime Minister promised voters the state-owned energy firm, which will be headquartered in the northeast of Scotland, would cut consumer energy bills by as much as £300.
But GB Energy’s chairman Juergen Maier admitted it could take 20 years to deliver a Labour government pledge of 1,000 jobs for Aberdeen and refused to put a date on when energy bills will drop.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “I know that you are asking me for a date as to when I can bring that, but GB Energy has only just been brought into creation and we will bring energy bills down.”
He added: “Great British Energy itself is going to create over the next five years 200 or 300 jobs in Aberdeen. That’ll be the size of our team.”
It was put to him that Britons were promised 1,000 jobs.
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Mr Maier said: “I said in the very long term, as we become a major energy champion, it may be many more than that.”
When he was asked what the “very long term” figure might be, the energy boss said: “We grow these companies. Energy companies grow over 10, 20 years. We’re going to be around in 20 years as a British energy champion.”
When pressed on whether it could take 20 years to get to 1,000 jobs, Mr Maier answered “absolutely”.
One of Labour’s five key missions for this parliament was to slash bills by £300 after a manifesto commitment to “save families hundreds of pounds on their bills, not just in the short term, but for good”.
Mr Maier argued that “ultimately” it will bring prices down.
“It is not in the remit of GB Energy to work out exactly how that energy costs then gets through to the consumer,” he said.
He added: “Consumers were pledged that GB Energy is going to help bring those energy prices down and we will.”
Pressed that he was still not saying when, Mr Maier said: ‘I’m giving you an answer. More renewable energy is bringing peope’s energy bills down.”
Asked whether it was all a “bit vague”, he replied: “I know that you are asking me for a date as to when I can bring that. GB Energy has only just been brought into creation…”
Since the election, Labour politicians have refused to repeat their party’s pledge to cut consumer energy bills by £300 in the Commons.
Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband has said before Christmas that ‘logically” a switch to clean energy will result in lower bills.
He told MPs: “The truth is that there is only one way to get bills down sustainably in this country and that is driving to clean energy.”