Families face even more energy price pain! Expert warns government’s net zero target for emissions would add another £400 to your bill
- Reaching net zero emissions by 2050 could cost £50billion a year by 2030
- Economist Nick Butler criticised ministers for failing to say how this will be paid
- He warned households face an extra £400 a year each and ‘green levies’
Families face paying hundreds of pounds more a year for energy if the cost of responding to climate change is put on them, ministers have been warned.
The Government wants to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – but achieving the target will require investment of £50billion a year by 2030, according to official estimates.
Energy economist Professor Nick Butler criticised ministers for failing to set out how this will be paid, and warned it could cost households £400 a year each.
He predicted the ‘green levies’, which add about £160 a year to bills, could more than double to fund the £50billion investments.
‘Somebody has to meet that,’ he said.
‘Either government pays for it, which is more borrowing or taxation, or some comes on consumer bills.
Families face paying hundreds of pounds more a year for energy if the cost of responding to climate change is put on them, ministers have been warned
‘I could easily see the green levy doubling from its current point – and could well be more.
‘They’ve just not talked about the whole thing yet.’
Professor Butler advised the Lords industry and regulators committee, which today publishes a report warning that funding the transition through charges to billpayers is ‘regressive’.
The peers urged ministers to set out how the net zero ambition will be paid for.
‘Funding the transition primarily through charges to billpayers… involves invidious trade-offs, making some consumers pay for investments that will not directly benefit them,’ the report states.
Experts have estimated that the average household faces a hit of at least £1,200 this year as taxes and energy bills rise.
A Government spokesman yesterday said it was on track to meet the 2050 target, adding: ‘Detailed measures are set out in our comprehensive net zero strategy, which has been widely welcomed by a range of experts.’
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