Renewables push will increase household electricity costs, warn energy experts

Millions of households across Britain face higher electricity bills to fund Ed Miliband’s efforts to block opposition to renewable energy projects.

The Energy Secretary hopes to pave the way for a mass expansion of Britain’s electricity grid through the countryside by lowering annual average bills by £250 for residents near new pylons.

The Telegraph has the story.

However, energy experts and campaigners described the move as a “bribe” and warned it would inflate costs for millions of other households who will effectively be required to subsidise the discount.

Jeremy Hunt, the former Conservative chancellor, previously explored the policy, but the Treasury is understood to have raised concerns that it would just leave the rest of the country facing higher energy bills.

It is understood that the Government will fund the scheme through an obligation on suppliers. Companies are expected to recoup the costs by passing them onto customers.

Thomas Edwards, at energy consultancy Cornwall Insight, said: “That money would need to come from somewhere.”

One industry insider added: “It’s a tax on bills to pay for bribes.”

Jack Richardson, the head of policy at Britain’s largest energy supplier Octopus, wrote on social media site X: “Compensation might be justified but it’ll ultimately push up bills further for others.”

Octopus has pushed to introduce so-called zonal pricing across Britain, which it believes would reduce the need for new pylons rather than “simply shifting costs onto other households and businesses”.

Under Mr Miliband’s plan, households living within half a kilometre of new or upgraded infrastructure could have their average electricity bill reduced by nearly 40pc.

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