Green Tax Means Energy Bills Rise Even if Electricity Falls, Say Suppliers

Household energy bills are rising in the UK and will keep climbing even if wholesale electricity prices fall, suppliers have warned.

The Daily Telegraph reports senior executives from Octopus Energy, British Gas owner Centrica, E.On, EDF and Ovo urged government ministers to urgently address levies that pay for net zero-related costs, which they said are one of the main factors driving bills higher.

The push for net zero carbon emissions started under former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and has been driven onwards by the Labour government of Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Rachel Fletcher, director for regulation at Octopus Energy, told a parliamentary committee current trends suggest punitive green levies could add around £300 to a typical household’s electricity bill by 2030.

Fletcher, of Octopus, said the current path to net zero as demanded by Labour is fraught with dangers:

If we continue on the path that we’re on right now, in all likelihood, electricity prices for a typical customer are going to be 20pc higher in four or five years’ time than they are now.

And that’s even if wholesale prices halve. So we completely support the decarbonisation of electricity that will begin to bring wholesale prices down, but the non-commodity costs are adding about £300 of pressure onto a typical bill.

We have got to do something radical to address that.

The Telegraph report further notes green levies and other policy costs are paid for by households and businesses directly through their energy bills, rather than through general taxation.