A new report, commissioned by the Tories, has found that Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 Plan will cost an extra £320 billion by 2050, compared to their own watered-down proposals which prioritise gas and nuclear, rather than wind and solar.
The report by the economic think tank Onward was originally commissioned by Claire Coutinho, when she was Energy Secretary, to calculate the overall system costs of fully decarbonising the UK’s electricity supply. It was conveniently shelved by Ed Miliband when he took office.
The extra costs are made up as follows:
£137 billion in network spending, thanks to a higher utilisation firm power system with supply located closer to demand
£94 billion from lower wholesale prices, thanks to the removal of carbon taxes
£67 billion in lower spend on balancing and ancillary services
£22 billion across generation subsidies and the Capacity Market
Some in the media have claimed that electricity bills will be cut by £540 as a result, but this is a gross misunderstanding. With the exception of scrapping carbon taxes (worth about £5 billion a year), which will have an immediate effect on bills, the ‘savings’ refer to limiting future increases in bills as a result of Labour’s plans.
In short, Miliband’s plans, which remain official Government policy, will massively increase the price of electricity. The Tories say they can mitigate some of this – but not all.
We need to remember that decarbonisation policies have already cost the public well in excess of £200 billion over the last couple of decades. The cost this year alone will amount to over £20 billion, which equates to more than £700 for every household in the country.
Tim Stanley may not have an issue with this, but millions will disagree.
Labour’s response to the new Onward report has been a pitiful attempt to deflect. New Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh made no attempt to rebut any of the technical detail, instead offering this meaningless nonsense:
Labour is investing in more clean energy jobs, cutting tax on electricity bills to give families breathing space this winter and we’re taking action to tackle the climate crisis and bring down bills for good. Kemi Badenoch would put jobs at risk and increase bills. As global fossil fuel prices continue to rise amid conflict overseas and wildfires rage across the UK, we can’t turn our back on clean power. That won’t bring down bills and it won’t address the climate crisis. The Tories don’t have a clue.
A response has, though, come from the unreliable climate lobby outfit Carbon Brief, in what they laughingly call a ‘Factcheck’.
