By Paul Homewood
A new report by the Renewable Energy Foundation claims that green energy subsidies are now costing the public £25.8 billion a year.
The Telegraph report:
Britain’s green energy subsidies have added an estimated £280 to households’ energy bills, research has found.
Levies used to encourage construction of wind farms, solar parks and other renewables have added £25.8bn 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 bn per year – or over £900 per household annually – about one third of which, £280, will hit the average domestic electricity bill directly.
Full story here.
REF’s report can be seen here.
Their numbers are largely the same as I have been reporting on for a while, including the official costings from the OBR of environmental levies, which are indisputable.
REF also include REGOs (Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates), which are increasingly profitable for renewable generators and, of course, end up being paid for by us.
They also includes the costs on fossil generators imposed by the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and Climate Change Levy. These not only increase our bills but also have the effect of increasing revenue for renewable generators.
John Constable has a full interview on GB News below:
Unsurprisingly DESNZ responded with a pack of lies and distortions, as the Telegraph reported:
A Government spokesman disagreed with the REF figures used in the report and said it “ignores the benefits of clean power and significantly misleads on the cost of renewables”.
A spokesman said: “As shown by the National Energy System Operator’s independent report, clean power by 2030 is achievable and will deliver a more secure energy system, which could see a lower cost of electricity and lower bills.”
How REF can be “significantly misleading on the cost of renewables” is a mystery, given that REF’s numbers all come from official data.
And as we already know, NESO’s claim of lower bills was totally fake. Their calculations were based on a massive rise in carbon taxes, which would artificially increase gas generation costs. Only by this legerdemain were they able to claim that more renewables would therefore be cheaper.
Either way, whatever our bills are in 2030 is utterly irrelevant to the fact that we are already paying £26 billion a year more than we should be. Shaving a billion or two off this in a few years time is neither here nor there.