Holyrood View - Angus is at the forefront of the energy revolution

From Seagreen to Inch Cape, Angus isn’t watching Scotland’s renewable revolution from the sidelines—we’re right at the forefront of it.

Seagreen, supported from Montrose Port, is already generating electricity for the equivalent of more than 1.6 million homes.

That’s about 63% of all households in Scotland. It’s also sustaining around 80 highly skilled jobs based locally.

Inch Cape, around 21 kilometres offshore, is following suit. It brings new investment in our infrastructure and over 50 long-term operational roles anchored here.

These are real gains for our community—concrete examples of what happens when national policy meets local ambition.

Across Scotland, clean power generation has hit record highs. With Berwick Bank now consented, the picture is set to change again.

It’s expected to produce around 11.2 terawatt hours a year—enough to power every home in Scotland twice over, and with plenty to spare.

The point is simple: one project at this scale can shift the national dial.

But too often, the benefits don’t land where the turbines do. Key decisions - on grid capacity, charges and market rules - are taken at UK level.

Transmission charges are still higher in the north.

Regional disparities in standing charges persist. Scots face some of the highest bills in Europe.

And while the wind blows strong in Scotland, it’s frequently curtailed because our grid can’t keep up.

These are not abstract problems. They drive up bills, slow down projects and hold back jobs.

That’s why the Scottish Government is pushing for change - urging Ofgem and the system operator to fix charging and connection rules, backing stronger community benefits, and rolling out heat networks that can lower household costs.

Whatever your view on Scotland’s constitutional future, there should be agreement on this: communities that power the country deserve a fair return.

There’s a bigger prize within reach. With full control over energy policy, Scotland could build a system that keeps prices low, draws in new industries, supports food producers, and puts profits back into local hands.

We already have what many countries can only wish for: the wind, the workforce, the ports - and the will to lead.

What we don’t yet have is the power to shape the system to serve our communities first.

Scotland is energy-rich. It’s time people in Angus felt that too.

The turbines off our coastline should mean more than electricity stats.

They should mean warm homes, secure jobs and local businesses that thrive - so that the places driving this energy transition finally see the return, on their bills and in their pay.

Graeme Dey has been SNP MSP for Angus South since 2011 and holds the ministerial posts for Further and Higher Education and for Veterans.