My Lords, I am at a wee bit of a loss here. My understanding was that markets operate on the basis that if there is a shortage and there is a demand, the price rises, and that plant which is presently idle will be brought into play.
The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, made no reference to those plants which are either under construction or for which planning permission has been granted, and which may well be up and available, if not running, in the period between 2014 and 2018-19. I think that he is taking the long overdue siren noises from Ofgem of June a bit too seriously. Most people just said, “It’s typical of Ofgem”. It has taken so much longer to waken up to the fact that all this capacity is going out because of European directives and the like that there is going to be a problem. So his new-found urgency here I find somewhat unconvincing, because of his dependence on Ofgem's latest edict. I am not sure whether we need to wait four years, but I do not think that six months is necessary. It would be helpful if the Minister could give us some idea; it would be nice if
we could get what was going to be in the SIs in the autumn, but not necessarily that. Perhaps she could give us some idea of the estimates and what the nuancing is of the information. As far as I can see, there is idle plant which, if the price was to rise, would become attractive to operate. Furthermore, there are a number of schemes which are either in the course of construction or would be accelerated once the process started. You do not build a power station in six months; you build it in about three and a half years. I suspect that that is the reason for the four-year timeline. So I am not sure that we need the amendment at all, but it would be helpful if the Minister could give us a clearer idea of the forecasts from DECC and others on the availability of plant, which would allay some of the anxieties.