One Wales, Many Power Projects.

Well, Rhodri and Ieuan have gone ahead and done the deal. So from an energy point-of-view it pays to take a closer look at the “One Wales Accord” document, and see exactly what it means for us here in Wales.

And as it turns out, what’s not mentioned in the document is every bit as intriguing as what is.

There are a plethora of power projects currently under construction or consideration in Wales at the moment, many of which do not fall into the remit of the Welsh Assembly. Because many of them have a generating capacity over 50MW, they will be decided by the new Department for Business and Regulatory Reform (DEBRR, formerly the DTI) in London.

Given Labour’s track record over the last 10 years, you can safely take “Regulatory Reform” to mean “Deregulation”.

This issue of control over large power projects, however, is not something the Labour Administration in Cardiff have been insensitive to, and, a few years ago, former Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies made representations to the DTI, seeking devolution of large power station consents to the Assembly. In response to this, it was agreed to set up a three-way committee to look at the process, the Tripartite Group on Energy Consents.

This little-known group, split between the Welsh Assembly, DTI and the Welsh Office, have largely deliberated outside of the public gaze.

The funny thing is, no mention is made of this Group in the new Accord. Indeed, under Part 8 of the Accord, the only drawdown of powers that the new Plaid/Labour administration will seek, in order to tackle the huge problem of climate change, is control over Building Regulations. A useful step, I’m sure, but hardly earth-shaking.

So what exactly has this Group been discussing, and why is there no mention of it in the Accord? What exactly are Plaid’s Labour partners up to?