Ministers told electricity prices ‘can and should be cheaper’
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The UK Government has been challenged to act to cut electricity bills for consumers – with the new boss of a key advisory body saying prices “can and should be cheaper”. Emma Pinchbeck, who took over as chief executive of the Climate Change Committee in November, insisted it is “absolutely essential that the Government looks at how they can make electricity cheaper for consumers and businesses as soon as possible”.
Her comments came as she told MPs that if the UK meets its target of reaching net zero by 2050, then bills will “be lower” then. She also stressed the “overall efficiencies of renewables and their cost to build” versus the cost of fossil fuel energy plants meant that renewables “are a cheaper technology”, adding the “economy overall benefits” from this.
She told Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee that electricity bills could be made cheaper if the Government acted to remove levies which help fund policies from them. Currently bills include various charges to help support policies such as low carbon power generation, energy efficiency measures and providing support for vulnerable customers.
Ms Pinchbeck said: “For domestic consumers, if the Government chose to not levy the policy costs of electricity bills, the price difference between gas and electricity would be far less and electricity would be cheaper. “That is a relatively straightforward thing to do.”.
