Britain’s green energy subsidies have added an estimated £280 to households’ energy bills, research has found – despite Ed Miliband pledging at the election to cut bills by £300. The Telegraph has more.
Levies used to encourage construction of wind farms, solar parks and other renewables have added £25.8 billion a year to energy bills paid by both households and industry, according to a study from the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF).
The charity said the cost of the subsidies were a key factor in the UK’s sky-high electricity prices and blamed them for accelerating the decline of British industry.
John Constable, REF’s Director, said: “Renewables subsidies are now costing £25.8 billion per year – or over £900 per household annually – about one third of which, £280, will hit the average domestic electricity bill directly.
“The remainder, £650, impacts households through general cost of living increases – as businesses like supermarkets recover their share of the green subsidy costs through increased prices.
“This is intolerable. It simply can’t go on.”
REF’s estimate of the direct cost of green energy subsidies on household bills is strikingly similar to the £300 that Labour promised bills would decrease by if the party came to power and moved Britain’s energy system to renewables.
That claim has become a source of controversy since their election win last year, with Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, repeatedly challenged to show bills are going down.
Average bills rose by 6.4%, or £111 a year, when the latest energy price cap took effect last month.
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