GREEN ELECTRICITY COST EACH UK HOUSEHOLD £340 PER YEAR

Full cost of living impact of renewables subsidies revealed

London, 14 October: At a time when the press is awash with naively reported good news about the proportion of renewables in British electricity generation, it is important to recall that this “success” comes at a huge cost to consumers -- about £9 billion a year at present, and still rising. This amounts to over £300 a year per household, according to robust calculations by GWPF on the basis of estimates by the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The GWPF analysis, which is published today, observes that while the direct impact of renewables subsidies on household electricity bills amounts to about £130 per household per year. This is not the end of the story, since industrial, commercial and public sector consumers must pass on their share of the subsidy to households indirectly through the cost of goods and services and general taxation. If a supermarket pays more to refrigerate milk, it must recover that cost at the checkout. This “cost of living” impact of renewables subsidies amounts to a further £200 a year per household, a figure which is set to increase still further in the near future. Dr John Constable, who conducted the analysis, said: "When government spends consumer subsidy on this scale it is no surprise that hardly a day goes past without more tumbling renewables records. The question is whether this vast subsidy expenditure has created a sustainable clean energy industry, or, as seems much more likely, a greedy and entitled interest group that is certain to wilt like a hot house plant when it is exposed to the cold winds of reality. Time will tell, and as far as long-suffering consumers are concerned the truth can’t come soon enough." Current Costs of British Renewables Subsidies Per House