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A series of twelve regional stakeholder events are being held over the summer to capture the views of green groups, energy companies, businesses, consumer groups, unions, faith groups and academics.

In addition, a major deliberative exercise involving a demographically representative sample of 1,100 UK citizens will be held on Saturday 8 September in nine cities across the UK.

Attending the first stakeholder event, today in Newcastle, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said:

?Keeping the lights on for the decades ahead while also cutting carbon emissions is one of the biggest challenges of our time. The Government's Energy White Paper sets out a range of responses, including increased energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage and more renewable generation such as offshore wind farms.

?The Government also believes that new nuclear power stations should be an option for energy companies in the future, but we want to consult as widely as possible on this before making a decision.

?We're part way through a 20 week consultation and I want as many people as possible to feed into that via the interactive website. Over the summer months, starting here in Newcastle, we'll be taking the debate directly to more than 1,500 people up and down the UK.

?This is a big decision with consequences either way. It's critical that we listen to all the views and get it right.?

Viki Cooke, Joint Chief Executive of Opinion Leader Research, said:

?The deliberative events are designed to give participants information about the issues and time to debate and discuss them with others. We will use a wide range of interactive techniques to engage participants and help make the information accessible.

?Each event will be demographically representative of the region or nation where it is being held, enabling us to build up a robust picture of the general public's views at a national level.?

The consultation is running for 20 weeks in total, significantly longer than standard government consultations. The Government has commissioned a range of specialist organisations to conduct and evaluate the consultation.