Green Energy Subsidies Will Rise To 20% Of Household Energy Bills

Consumers can expect their household energy bills to increase by £100 a year over the current decade to support carbon-reduction commitments, according to a government-sponsored report. Charges to support the reduction in carbon emissions are expected to rise from around 8 per cent of energy bills to nearly 20 per cent over the current decade. GWPF warned that the government faced “a political backlash” if it accepted higher subsidies for high-cost alternative forms of energy generation. But the study, produced by the Committee on Climate Change, argues that the prospect of more stable gas prices and improvements in the efficiency of domestic appliances could see household energy bills hold steady or rise more slowly by 2020 after several years of steep inflation. Lord Adair Turner, chair of the CCC, also hit out at claims that UK investment in low-carbon power capacity could drive up household energy bills from current levels of about £1,000 to as high as £3,000 over the next decade. “We found that bills have increased primarily in response to increased wholesale gas costs and not due to environmental policies,” said Lord Turner. “Over the next decade, we anticipate a rise of around £100 in the average bill as a result of investment in low-carbon power capacity, which will benefit the UK in the long run. And if we introduce new policies to stimulate energy efficiency improvement then bills in 2020 could broadly be contained at current levels.”