Written questions by Lake.

How many unplanned power outages occurred in each of the last five years.

Awaiting answer.

What was the average duration of an unplanned power outage in each Distribution Network Operator area in each of the last five years.

Awaiting answer.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic properties which use (a) oil and (b) liquefied petroleum gas for heating purposes by parliamentary constituency.

The Department does not produce bespoke estimates of the number of domestic properties using oil or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for heating by parliamentary constituency. Information on the heating fuels used by households is published by the Office for National Statistics and the devolved administrations.

What support his Department is providing to individuals who live off grid and who are on low incomes who do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Warm Homes Discount.

Thanks to decisions in the recent Budget, an average of £150 of costs will be removed from household energy bills from April. The actions at budget also make electricity cheaper, meaning everyone will benefit and the transfer of the Renewables Obligation to public expenditure is a significant step towards rebalancing levies away from electricity. What individual households actually save will depend on their specific energy use. Households with bigger electricity bills could save more than £150. In addition, the Budget significantly increased the capital budget for home insulation through the Warm Homes Plan by £1.5bn to almost £15bn. This is the biggest public investment ever to upgrade homes with insulation and clean tech like solar panels and heat pumps.

What steps he is taking to help support the owners of (a) short and (b) long term holiday lets to improve the energy efficiency rating of their properties in Wales.

The Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future. We will partner with combined authorities and local and devolved governments to roll out this plan. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants to property owners, including holiday lets, to enable them to transition away from fossil fuel to low carbon heating. Advice for energy efficiency support in Wales is available at: https://www.gov.wales/home-energy-fuel-poverty Further details on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to protect consumers from the impact of the recent increase in the energy price cap; and whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that utility companies reflect falls in wholesale prices in consumer energy costs.

The energy price cap will rise for the period 1 April to 30 June 2025 due to an increase in international gas prices. The Government believes the only way to protect consumers permanently is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. We continue to monitor energy prices and the price cap and are working to ensure bills are affordable for consumers in the long-term, including through our work with Ofgem to reform standing charges, and through our Warm Homes Plan which will upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run.