Millions of households pay £170 more for energy due to Tory subsidy cuts
Millions of households are paying an extra £170 in bills because of cuts to subsidies for measures such as home insulation, according to analysis that comes during an impasse on the government’s energy strategy.
One cabinet source said it was now likely the strategy –designed to tackle rising bills and boost energy security – would not be ready this week, amid cabinet splits over funding for nuclear power and the relaxing of planning rules concerning onshore wind.
On Sunday one cabinet minister suggested the government was looking seriously at schemes to offer homeowners discounts on energy if they live near new windfarms or nuclear plants.
“We’ve seen great examples of other people where if they build a nuclear power station, within a certain radius of that power station they get free power,” said the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi.
Campaigners have said the strategy should include further measures to make homes more energy efficient, on top of the announcement last week that VAT would be cut on materials used for measures such as the installation of solar panels and heat pumps.
Analysis highlighted by Labour found a fall in home insulation rates since 2012, when many subsidies were cut, meaning that at least 9 million households were now paying £170 a year more in electricity bills.
The party has called for a national homes insulation programme, which the shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, said would reduce energy consumption enough to nullify the amount of gas imported from Russia.
Installations averaged 40,000 a month in 2012 under the previous government’s insulation programmes, the carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) and the community energy saving programme (CESP). But these ended at the end of 2012
Read more on theguardian.com
