Official figures – initially withheld by ministers – show steep rises in
the price of electricity by the end of the decade to pay for the
Government’s policies to tackle climate change
By Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter
The cost of household electricity will rise by as much as 40 per cent by
the end of the decade because of the Government’s green energy policies.
Official figures initially withheld by ministers show an alarming
increase in the price of electricity caused by generous subsidies to wind
farms as well as other policies.
An average household is expected to pay as much as £250 more for
electricity – mainly through consumer subsidies – to pay for the
Government’s green energy schemes, while an electrically heated house could
be as much as £440 a year worse off.
And by 2030, when thousands of planned offshore wind turbines are finally
operating, the burden will be even greater, the numbers show. The average
household could be paying an extra 60 per cent for electricity – equivalent
to £350 more a year.
Medium-sized businesses will be hit very hard, according to the new data.
On average such companies will see electricity bills rise by more than
£500,000 a year – a cost likely to be passed on to consumers.
The figures were made public last week by the Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) following a Freedom of Information request by
campaigners. The information was initially prepared for an official DECC
report – released at the beginning of November – which claimed that the
average household fuel bill had fallen by £90 thanks to the “impact of DECC
policies”.
But the tables showing the actual cost of green policies on future
electricity prices for households and businesses in 2020 and 2030 were kept
secret because they were “thought to be confusing”.
Their release now will embarrass ministers, who are accused of presiding
over an expensive consumer subsidy system.
The Government’s climate change policies include complex consumer subsidies
for wind and solar farms, as well as grants for energy efficiency measures
such as loft and wall insulation, available to certain households.
The introduction of smart meters, which it is hoped will encourage lower
consumption, also helped contribute to rising electricity prices.
Dr John Constable, director of Renewable Energy Foundation, the think tank
whose Freedom of Information request was responsible for forcing DECC to
release the price impact tables, said: “The striking scale and increasing
trend of the climate policy energy price impacts are bad enough in
themselves, but DECC’s attempt to conceal these vitally important figures
is breathtaking.”
Dr Constable said he had been told by informed sources that pressure had
been put on DECC to withhold the tables.
“This is a very unsatisfactory situation,” he said, “Energy price impact
data is so intrinsically important, and policy transparency so crucial to
public trust in government, that very firm intervention is needed to clear
the air and ensure that it will not happen again. This sounds like a job
for the Prime Minister.”
DECC’s initial 88-page report was published on Nov 6, but the raw data on
which the findings were based were omitted.
The Renewable Energy Foundation requested the figures and this week they
were finally made available.
The supplementary tables show the “average impact of energy and climate
change policies on households’ energy prices” will see the cost of
electricity rise by as much as 42 per cent by 2020 from £131 per megawatt
hour (MWh) to £186.
An average household uses about 4.5 MWh, meaning a rise of as much as £250
in the cost of electricity. By 2030, the price of a megwatt hour will
increase by 60 per cent to £206.
Medium-sized businesses, according to DECC’s own figures, will pay as much
as 77 per cent more for electricity in 2020 and 114 per cent more in 2030.
Such business on average consume 11,000 MWh – adding as much as £560,000 a
year to the electricity bill. A typical bill could rise from £760,000 a
year to £1.3 million.
DECC has claimed overall bills will fall because its green policies will
lead to a reduction in household energy consumption with measures such as
improved insulation and increased efficiency of electrical appliances
leading to an overall drop in bills, it says.
A DECC spokesman said a decision had been taken to withhold the tables
because it was “thought to be confusing”.
She said: “We always said we would publish the data anyway. It is not
written anywhere but that is what we were quite clear about.”
She added: “Without the Government’s policies bills would still be higher.”
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