The government’s decision on zonal pricing for electricity – the issue that divides the energy industry like no other – is due any day. Whichever way ministers jump, it would be a good moment to update consumers on the outlook for their bills in the “sprint” to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030. Does the government still think cleaner energy means cheaper energy? If so, when and how?
It deserves an answer for two reasons. First, because the costs of turning down gas-fired generation in favour of renewables are clearer than a year ago – and current trends, sadly, are not encouraging. Second, because promising consumers “up to £300” off their bills by 2030 via clean energy, as Keir Starmer and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, have done, risks handing a political gift to anti-net zero opponents if the savings do not materialise.
