By Paul Homewood
Families face paying hundreds of pounds more a year for energy if the cost of responding to climate change is put on them, ministers have been warned.
The Government wants to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – but achieving the target will require investment of £50billion a year by 2030, according to official estimates.
Energy economist Professor Nick Butler criticised ministers for failing to set out how this will be paid, and warned it could cost households £400 a year each.
He predicted the ‘green levies’, which add about £160 a year to bills, could more than double to fund the £50billion investments.
‘Somebody has to meet that,’ he said.
‘Either government pays for it, which is more borrowing or taxation, or some comes on consumer bills.
The Government wants to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – but achieving the target will require investment of £50billion a year by 2030, according to official estimates
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I could easily see the green levy doubling from its current point – and could well be more.
‘They’ve just not talked about the whole thing yet.’
Professor Butler advised the Lords industry and regulators committee, which today publishes a report warning that funding the transition through charges to billpayers is ‘regressive’.
The peers urged ministers to set out how the net zero ambition will be paid for.
‘Funding the transition primarily through charges to billpayers… involves invidious trade-offs, making some consumers pay for investments that will not directly benefit them,’ the report states.
Experts have estimated that the average household faces a hit of at least £1,200 this year as taxes and energy bills rise.
A Government spokesman yesterday said it was on track to meet the 2050 target, adding: ‘Detailed measures are set out in our comprehensive net zero strategy, which has been widely welcomed by a range of experts.’
The cost of course will be much more than £400 per household, which is just the element they think will appear in energy bills. On top of that can be added the cost of buying heat pumps, electric cars, insulation and all of the costs faced by industry and the public sector.
After all, £50 billion equates to over £1800 pa.
The government’s response – “widely welcomed by a range of experts” – shows just how out of touch they are with the real world. Instead they are a part of the closed circle of green advisors and lobbyists.
It is also noticeable that they have not challenged any of Professor Butler’s costings.
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March 5, 2022 at 12:57PM
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