Net zero costing Britain 'billions' more than needed, warns Tory ex-minister
Energy bills could be cheaper with changes to the way the UK generates power, says former MP John Penrose
Britons’ energy bills could be cheaper if the Government ditches “clunky old rules” about power generation, a former Tory minister has said.
John Penrose, an MP from 2005 to 2024, called for the modernisation of the country’s energy system to lower costs and decarbonise faster.
He warned that getting to net zero was costing "billions of pounds more than it needs to" without these improvements.
The former MP said: “Families and businesses are facing enormous energy bills that are much higher than they should be, because of clunky old rules about how power is generated, regulated, traded, stored and transmitted.
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“There is plenty of debate over cuts to the winter fuel payment but not enough of a conversation about how to lower bills across the board.”
His report for the Centre for Policy Studies gives 20 recommendations which could be adopted by the new Government to helpbring energy bills down while still committing to being greener.
These include slashing the cost of energy transmission with measures like “local discounting” for customers who agree to pylons or onshore wind turbines being built near them.
It also calls for a reforming of the energy price cap, which limits the price suppliers can charge for each unit of energy.
Mr Penrose, who served as a minister of state to Northern Ireland, insisted these could be implemented without increasing the cost to the taxpayer or billpayer, and could boost productivity and growth by supporting British manufacturing.
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He said: “Ed Miliband recently asked the director of National Grid ESO for ideas on how to decarbonise the electricity system, and this paper gives him 20 low-cost, no-regrets answers to his question.
“Without these ideas, net zero will cost billions of pounds more than it needs to, handing huge bills to British households and crippling UK manufacturing at the same time.
“But if we decarbonise in the right way, our energy can be both greener and cheaper.”
The report, called A Cheaper Route to Net Zero, said British households are still struggling with high energy bills because of outdated regulations pushing up costs.
This is despite international gas prices lowering in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Labour has set 2030 as its deadline for a zero-carbon electricity system.
