The Tories say the ‘true cost’ of Ed Miliband’s net zero plans has been revealed (Image: Getty)
Ed Miliband’s “rush” to net zero will hike energy bills by £104 by the end of this decade, Reform and the Tories have warned. Regulator Ofgem has provisionally signed off a £24billion investment in Britain’s power network, which includes £15billion on the country’s gas transmission and distribution networks, and under £9billion into electricity networks.
The latter investment is the first stage of a planned £80billion upgrade to the country’s electricity networks over the next five years to ensure the grid is ready for net zero. The investments will be funded through levies on household energy bills. Ofgem said these initiatives would add £104 to network charges by 2031. But this is £30 lower than they otherwise would have been.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Yet again we see that the result of the rush to fund net zero will be to push up energy bills for hard-working British people.
“Net zero is destroying UK manufacturing, threatens thousands of jobs and is making us all poorer. Only Reform will scrap net zero and make the UK gas independent again, using our own energy treasure under our feet.
“This will reduce prices and lower bills, ease the cost-of-living crisis and make everyone better off.”
Ofgem said bills would rise even higher without investment because of a surge in payments to wind farms to switch off at times when they overwhelm the grid.
Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, said: “Doing nothing is not an option and will cost consumers more – this is critical national infrastructure.
“The sooner we build the network we need, and invest to strengthen our resilience, the lower the cost for bill payers will be in the future.
“However, this can’t be done at any price, which is why we have built in cost controls and negotiated a fair deal for both investors and consumers. And we won’t hesitate to intervene if network companies don’t deliver on time and on budget.”
A spokesman for the Department for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: “We are making the UK a clean energy superpower to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators and replace that with clean homegrown power we control.
“That is how we can protect family finances and our national finances.”
