The Renewable Electricity Generation Bill cleared its First Stage in the Assembly on 30 June 2026 — the formal introduction of the bill, with no debate at this point. It’s an Executive bill sponsored by the Minister for the Economy, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, and its stated purpose is to “confer powers to provide financial assistance for the purposes of encouraging low carbon electricity generation.”
In practice, that means giving the Department for the Economy new legal authority to fund or subsidise renewable electricity projects — the kind of powers needed to support Northern Ireland’s low-carbon generation targets, though the bill itself is about creating the financial-assistance mechanism rather than setting specific targets or schemes.
What happens next
With the Assembly now in summer recess, the bill won’t move again until September. The next step is Second Stage — a general debate on the bill’s principles — followed by Committee Stage, where the Committee for the Economy, chaired by Phillip Brett, will scrutinise the detail line by line, hear evidence, and can propose amendments.
No date has been set yet for Second Stage or Committee Stage; both are still pending as of the bill’s most recent update (10 July 2026).
Who to watch
- Dr Caoimhe Archibald — Minister for the Economy, sponsoring the bill
- Phillip Brett — Chair, Committee for the Economy, which will lead scrutiny at Committee Stage
- The full Committee for the Economy membership will be the group taking evidence and considering amendments once Committee Stage opens
What we don’t know yet
The bill’s text and Explanatory and Financial Memorandum are published, but no committee evidence sessions, amendments, or scheduled dates exist yet — those will follow when the Assembly returns in September. We’ll update this piece as the bill progresses through Committee Stage.
Track the bill’s full stage history and text at the bill tracker entry.