Heat pumps may never be cheaper than gas boilers, Ed Miliband has admitted as Labour sneaks a new boiler tax through Parliament that will push up prices. The Telegraph has more.
The Energy Secretary made the comments as Labour snuck a boiler tax through Parliament with minimal scrutiny on Wednesday, despite warnings the move will push up prices.
Under the scheme, which will come into force in April, boiler manufacturers will be fined if they fail to sell enough heat pumps, which companies have warned will force them to increase the price of installing a new gas boiler by as much as £120.
When asked to confirm whether the Government would abandon the proposed 2035 ban on new gas boilers at a Parliamentary committee, he said: “We can say to people you need to get a heat pump, not a gas boiler, potentially, at some point in the future.
“But I’m very wary of saying we’re going to stop people having gas boilers at a point when we can’t guarantee heat pumps are going to be cheaper for people.
“We must proceed in a way that we can say to people they will be better off in the transition.
“I do not want to be in a position where we say to people ‘you must go down this road’ and then people say – rightly – ‘you have made me worse off’.”
Heat pumps currently cost around £10,000 if bought without any Government subsidy, compared to around £3,000 for a gas boiler.
The relatively high price of electricity also means they are often more expensive to run than a gas boiler, despite being more efficient.
Ministers tabled the powers to enact the boiler tax as a statutory instrument, a type of legislation that can be passed with minimal scrutiny.
The measure was brought to a delegated committee in a side room of Parliament on Monday night, where there was little debate and no vote.
Labour MPs were only forced to vote for the policy at all after Tories in the chamber shouted out their opposition on Tuesday, triggering a ballot.
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