At the heart of any energy policy is energy security – and, as a result of Labour’s failures, Britain’s energy security is at risk as never before.
Our electricity plant is old and needs replacing. One third of our coal plant closes within five years. Much more will have to close by the end of the decade. Almost all of our nuclear plant will have to close by 2023.
Yet even knowing these timescales, Labour failed to get the investment we need. Under their policies, by the end of this decade, there would simply not have been enough supply to meet demand.
So when Ed Miliband lectures us on energy policy, let’s never forget that it was on his watch as Energy Secretary, that we started to face the prospect of black-outs - for the first time in a generation.
So our priority is to rebuild our power sector; to guarantee our energy security; to do it in a way that is genuinely low-carbon; and to do it at the lowest possible costs to consumers, because we never forget who pays the bills.
To put it bluntly, we need twice as much investment every year of this Conservative decade, as Labour managed in their last decade.
To put it in numbers, we need £200 billion to be invested in our energy infrastructure over the next 10 years or so.
Yet whilst this is a huge challenge, it is also an incredible opportunity for growth and new jobs.
After years of delay, Labour eventually, under John Hutton, understood the need for nuclear to be part of our energy future. And I pay tribute to his vision and realism.
Nuclear is the cheapest low-carbon source of electricity, so it can keep bills down and the lights on.
So now we are addressing the issues of planning, of approving the reactor designs and reforming our electricity market, so the UK is now the most exciting place in Europe, if not the world, for nuclear new build.
And with 5,000 jobs created in the construction of each new nuclear plant, our universities and colleges are already scaling up to ensure that we have the graduates and apprentices with the skills to take on those opportunities.
So, without public subsidy and with an absolute commitment to safety, this Government is making Britain a serious nuclear nation once again.
But, conference, the earliest date we can have a new nuclear power station open is towards the end of the decade, so we need other plants and facilities to fill Labour’s gap.
It is shameful that with some of the strongest winds and highest tidal reaches in Europe, the UK is currently third from bottom in the whole of the EU in its use of renewables.
It is a core part of our energy security that we have a balanced energy mix.
No source of power is completely reliable – the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow, we are increasingly dependent on imported fossil fuels and a nuclear plant out of operation, as happened for seven months last year, doesn’t produce a single unit of electricity.
So harnessing our own resources is an integral part of our energy security.
In offshore wind, we have set business a challenge – to bring down the cost of offshore wind by almost half by the end of the decade, so Britain can be the undisputed global leader in this 21st century industry.
And that matters. Because we want to be the country where the technology is developed and the parts are made – not just importing them from abroad as under Labour.
The offshore wind industry – building on the world-class skills of our oil and gas sector – offers the prospect of tens of thousands of high-quality well-paid jobs, and often in those areas which have struggled for so long.
This Conservative-led coalition bringing new jobs, prosperity and hope, in a new global industry, to our great towns and cities like Liverpool, Newcastle, Hartlepool and Hull.
And in other areas, Greg Barker is taking the lead to bring forward tidal and wave power and a whole new approach to small scale generation.
Now we hear very clearly the concerns expressed across the country about the balance between energy security and the impact on our countryside.
In the cold blustery days of much of the winter, wind energy can make a real contribution, but Labour’s system failed to get the right balance between the deployment of wind and the concerns of communities. So we are changing that.
The subsidy system, based on how much electricity is actually generated, will help to ensure that wind developments go where the wind resource is strongest.
And our planning reforms will give more powers to communities to decide where such developments go and to ensure that those communities which do host them, receive much more direct benefit as well.
Equally, we know we need new infrastructure to connect up the new plant, so we are working with National Grid to ensure they look more carefully at ways of protecting our glorious countryside, such as undergrounding the cables and new pylon designs.
Energy security needs one more pillar – the role which coal and gas must play as well.
We are committed to a low-carbon economy, but we will need fossil fuels for many years to come, and again we want Britain to lead the world in the development of the new carbon capture technologies, which will enable coal and gas to be a key part of our long-term energy future.
It’s an area where we have world class scientists, professionals and businesses, and which offers the possibility of tens of thousands of new jobs in the next 20 years and billions of Pounds of export opportunities.
Another new global industry, where our policies will help Britain be a world-leader.
And because of our commitment to taking forward these technologies, we can also commit to ensuring the long-term success of our offshore oil and gas industries and the importance of our refineries.
That too is all part of our commitment to energy security.
But conference, we know this comes at a price.
Ed Miliband talks tough today but did nothing in office, but we are taking action now to protect consumers and businesses.
It means making the tough choices that Labour ducked, putting the emphasis on technologies which will deliver most output for the lowest costs.
There is a choice facing this country.
We can be leaders in these new industries or we can be followers.
If we follow, we import the technology and we export the jobs and the wealth.
If we lead, we help create the technologies which will transform the global approach to energy and deliver real low-carbon energy security for decades to come.
Britain led the world in the industrial revolution; as we face a new industrial revolution, an energy revolution, we are determined to make sure it does so again and to win those jobs for Britain.