Net zero will mean higher bills, admit Miliband's officials

Telegraph

18-02-2025

It goes on to say that the Government has launched a separate subsidy scheme to help shield certain energy-intensive businesses, such as steelmakers, by exempting them from the levies. However, that policy is in turn funded by adding costs to the bills of other consumers.
On Tuesday, Mr Miliband's department refused to say whether it stood by the statements.
The electricity price paid by British industrial companies is the highest in the developed world, according to official data, with domestic power prices also among the highest.
Mr Miliband has repeatedly claimed that the Government's goal of reaching a clean power system by 2030 will ultimately bring bills down by making the electricity grid less reliant on gas-fired power stations.
Instead, the system will be dominated by wind farms, solar farms and energy storage systems such as batteries, with many guaranteed fixed prices through contracts for difference.
Gas plants will still be kept as a backup, but only to supply power up to 5pc of the time when wind and solar output is low.
Last month, Mr Miliband told MPs on the energy select committee that it was 'the roller coaster of fossil fuel markets' that had triggered the cost of living crisis for millions of households in 2022.
He added: 'There is an answer to this, in our view, which is clean home-grown power that we control. That is the right thing for energy security, for bringing down bills for good, for creating good jobs and for tackling the climate crisis.'
But Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at Oxford University and a former energy adviser to the Government, warned this month that 'the sprint to net zero is increasing the relative cost of UK electricity'.
'Consumers will have to bear costs'
He warned that bringing down industrial electricity costs for businesses would require charging 'higher prices to consumers who will have to bear more of the fixed and sunk costs'.
Mr Miliband has written to Ofgem, urging the energy regulator to do everything it can to mitigate the impact of bill rises for consumers, such as cracking down on inaccurate bills, speeding up reforms to standing charges and enforcing compensation for customers who were wrongly forced to have a prepayment meters by suppliers.
The watchdog will confirm the next price cap level on Feb 25.
While Cornwall Insights has predicted a rise in bills this spring, Craig Lowrey, of the consultancy, argued that investing in renewable energy would be better for households in the long run.
He said: 'It might be tempting to look at rising bills and conclude that the push towards renewables is not working, and we should scale back on the transition. But the reality is higher energy costs only reinforce the need to accelerate our expansion of clean, reliable energy across the UK.
'While building out renewables requires market reform, as well as investment and time, the alternative is to be left forever at the whim of the volatile international wholesale market, which as recent years have shown, can be a pretty expensive place to be.'
A spokesman for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'Every family in the country has paid the price of Britain's dependence on global fossil fuel markets.
'That is why we are sprinting to clean, home-grown energy, so the UK can take back control of its energy with cleaner, affordable power.
'As shown by independent analysis from the National Energy System Operator, clean power by 2030 is achievable, more secure, and could see a lower cost of electricity, and lower bills.
'Levies drive investment in renewables, which will secure greater energy independence and protect bill payers from future energy shocks.'