Another Phony Battle in the Climate War

Until Miliband's political opponents themselves commit to abandoning Net Zero, they're no better than he is

According to the Telegraph, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband has “been accused of ‘covering up’ evidence that Labour’s Net Zero plans will increase household electricity bills”. A “full cost-benefit analysis” of “regional energy pricing” had been promised, according to the newspaper, but so far Miliband’s department has yet to produce the goods, with complainants claiming that the results would undermine his Clean Power 2030 agenda, and this explains its absence, they claim. No doubt, both Net Zero and Miliband’s 2030 agenda are falling apart. But this spat between a Minister and his shadow is not a war that we should take sides in, as neither represent our interests and the criticism of Miliband fails to address the real problems with any part of Net Zero.

The accusations emerge from the Conservative Party and an organisation called Britain Remade, which the Telegraph describe as “a Right-leaning think tank”. But that is misleading. A naïve reading of the piece would leave the impression that both Britain Remade and the Conservatives are Net Zero sceptics. But Britain Remade is a Green Blob-funded organisation, founded by (among other former green-Tory wonks) Sam Richards, a former advisor to Boris Johnson’s government – which sought to remake Britain as “the Saudi Arabia of wind” Presumably, Richards told Johnson it was a good idea.

There is an apparent split in the Green Blob over the question of how to manage and charge for use of the grid. There is a surfeit of energy available in remote locations near wind farms and rural solar farms, whereas more densely populated areas, particularly in the southeast, now face insufficient capacity to carry the power. The problem is amplified by electrification of heating and transport (EVs), growth in which is going to be stalled until new capacity can be built. How to pay for it, without incurring the problem of pushing prices up even further?

One proposal – zonal pricing – emerged shortly after the General Election in 2024, with the same Telegraph journalist, Matt Oliver, reporting that as a result ‘London and South East warned of Net Zero blackouts”. I also reported on the proposals back then. Since power from wind farms has to travel further along more constrained infrastructure to get to London’s consumers, Londoners should pay more for use of the grid, right? It’s much like the principle of road congestion charging or tolls. Supporters of this idea include NESO (National Energy System Operator), Britain Remade, Octopus Energy and Ovo Energy, according to the Telegraph’s more recent article. But others, including SSE, Scottish Power and RWE, have opposed it, arguing that it would suddenly drop higher prices onto those unlucky enough to live in zones that are less well served.