New report: The true affordability of net zero
19 May 2025
This evening my latest report: The true affordability of net zero, was launched at an event hosted by The Lord Offord of Garvel, Shadow Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero in the House of Lords. The event was attended by MPs, Peers and members of the energy community as well as the press. It’s the first time a report of mine has received quite so much attention. Ahead of the launch it was covered by UnHerd and the Telegraph.
My report reviews in depth the costs of renewable generation and their impact on our bills, driving British industrial electricity costs to the highest in the developed world, and our domestic costs to fourth highest. We’re told this is due to the cost of gas, yet our gas bills are only 15th highest in the world. According to international energy price statistics published by the UK Government, as of June 2024 (the last month included in the dataset), large British firms were paying 27.91 p /kWh for electricity while those in the EU paid just 10.80 p /kWh. But this was not always the case. Back in July 2011 there was almost no difference between the price paid by industrial consumers in the UK versus those in the €7.48 p /kWh compared with 7.04 p /kWh.
“It is a sad fact that the UK’s industry electricity prices are amongst the highest in developed economies – higher than in the EU and around four times the prices in the US. The result is that UK energy-intensive industries are uncompetitive,”
– Professor Sir Dieter Helm
My report sets out all of the additional costs applied to bills as a result of net zero policies which in 2023-24 amounted to over £17 billion, and are projected to increase to over £20 billion per year in 2029-30. My analysis indicates that had Britain continued with its legacy gas-based power system in the period since 2006, consumers would have been almost £220 billion better off (2025 money) even taking into account the impact of the gas crisis.
https://watt-logic.com/2025/05/19/new-report-the-true-affordability-of-net-zero/
