3 days ago
Energy boss slams Ed Miliband's ‘abominable' plans to slap tax on gas boilers
ED Miliband's proposal to slap higher taxes on homes with gas boilers was branded an 'abomination' yesterday.
The Energy Secretary's plans would hit the poorest hardest, British Gas boss Chris O'Shea warned.
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It comes as Mr Miliband considers stripping green taxes from electricity bills to encourage more people to fork out for expensive heat pumps.
But under the plan, the costs would instead be passed on to gas customers, sending boiler running costs soaring.
Mr O'Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, called the proposal 'preposterous' and said it would cause a 'terrible distortion of the market'.
Instead he urged the Energy Secretary to focus on protecting households from the crippling costs of Net Zero.
He told The Telegraph: 'The idea that you'd put the levies on gas bills will mean better-off people with heat pumps will be subsidised by those who are poorer with gas boilers.
'That's nonsense.'
'I think those of us with the broadest shoulders should help those who have the most need.'
'To put taxes on gas bills would be an abomination. It doesn't make any sense.'
Experts have warned that shifting taxes from electricity to gas would drive up average gas bills by £120 a year.
Mr O'Shea also blasted Mr Miliband's repeated claim that Net Zero would lower energy bills by £300.
He said: 'The energy transition is not cheap and not simple.
'If it were, then we would have done it already.'
