Renewable subsidies only playing small part in rising fuel bills, reports Committee on Climate Change
Household fuel bills will go up £10 a year to help pay for the development of renewable energy sources, it has been claimed.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 16.12.11
- Published online : 16.12.11 @ 01.14pm
A report by the Committee on Climate Change published claims that massive rises in fuel bills are being driven by the increased price of wholesale gas.
The report also claimed that developing a low-carbon economy will only push prices up by £110 between now and 2020 — and that can be offset by improving energy efficiency.
The committee said fears that bills could rise dramatically due to the cost of upgrading the National Grid to benefit from renewable energy are unfounded.
Some critics have claimed gas and electricity bills could go up by as much as £3,000 because of these costs.
The Scottish Government has pledged to generate all of Scotland's electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. Most, if not all, renewable technologies require subsidies.
Earlier this week economists warned these could raise electricity prices by £170 a year.
However committee chairman Lord Adair Turner said rising bills are not a consequence of the drive towards green energy.
He said: ''We were keen to provide a dispassionate analysis of household bill impacts in what has become a politically controversial area.
''We found that bills have increased primarily in response to increased wholesale gas costs and not due to environmental policies.''
The committee focused on the 84% of UK households (21 million) that use gas for heating.
They found that for these households energy bills increased by £455 between 2004 and 2010 to £1,060 a year.
Of this increase, £380 (84%) was unrelated to low-carbon measures, with £290 due to increases in wholesale costs, £70 due to increasing transmission and distribution costs and £20 due to VAT.
Around £75 (16%) was due to policies that reduce carbon emissions, including £30 to support investment in low-carbon power generation, and £45 for funding energy-efficiency improvements in homes.
Looking forward, bills are projected to increase by around £110 over the next decade to support investment in low-carbon power capacity (£100) and energy efficiency in homes (£10).
Further increases will be required to support grid investment (£15), and may be required depending on gas price movements.
However, the report also warned that homes that rely solely on electricity will face disproportionately higher bills.
02.45pm - 16.12.2011 Stuart Allan - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Basically, if we abandon renewables, our bills will rise massively until the gas runs out and we are scuppered. Or, we invest in renewables now for lower bills in a future where the "free fuel" of wind, waves, tides, currents and sunlight will provide our energy forever.
05.11am - 17.12.2011 NevTheTech - Essex, UK Report This
Interesting that the UK dictatorship just scuppered the only good green move it ever made by cutting the solar feed-in tariff to make it unfeasible to provide free solar panels in a "rent your roof" scheme. Whole industry killed over night and the big five energy suppliers are still raking it in.
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