During the election, our power-addled energy secretary promised to cut £300 off household energy bills by 2030, but that was always a fantasy. In reality, they’re rocketing. And they’ll continue to rise, again and again.
On 1 July, three days before Labour’s victory, Ofgem’s energy cap stood at £1,570. Today, it’s £1,755, adding £185 to the average household bill.
And it won’t stop there. Incredibly, forecasts suggest the cap will jump again to £1,870 next April. If correct, that would leave bills £300 higher than when Labour won the election. The exact opposite of what Miliband pledged.
And it won’t stop. Furious energy bosses now warn bills could rise another 20% in the next four years, even if wholesale gas prices fall.
That’s because the cost of Miliband’s reckless and impossible dash for net zero by 2030 is being dumped directly onto household bills. Even Labour-backing unions reckon he’s an “absolute disaster zone”.
Miliband isn’t controlling costs. He’s driving them ever higher. Now he’s completely out of control.
On Wednesday, executives from Britain’s biggest power suppliers slammed Miliband’s policies while giving evidence to MPs.
Rachel Fletcher, director for regulation at Octopus, issued the most damning verdict of all.
She said that even if wholesale energy prices halved, household bills would still rise by £150 because of the ballooning “non-commodity” costs.
This is the technical term for all the extras Miliband has piled onto our bills, including green levies, grid upgrades and subsidies for renewables.
Fletcher’s conclusion was devastating: “There is no budgetary control of this.”
E.On UK’s boss Chris Norbury said that as a result, our bills could remain just as high even if energy itself cost NOTHING.
British Gas owner Centrica and EDF also blamed Miliband for piling unnecessary costs onto customers.
They warned his relentless focus on wind and solar power, and refusal to invest in reliable gas generation, is destabilising the grid and inflating bills.
Miliband’s breakneck drive towards net zero, coupled with his hostility to North Sea oil and gas, is pushing Britain to the brink.
So did Miliband listen? He never does.
His department falsely dismissed the warnings as “speculation”, and repeated the same tired line that the only way to cut bills is to turn Britain into “a clean energy superpower”. That’s his mission, remember.
This weekend, it will be followed by another fantasy announcement, as he pledges 400,000 new “green jobs” across the country. He won’t mention that his policies are destroying real jobs in oil, gas and heavy industry. For every notional green post promised, thousands of real ones have already gone.
Millions of vulnerable will spend yet another long winter shivering at home because they can’t afford to use electricity and gas, and it’s going to get worse by the year. Despite gas getting cheaper.
Miliband has lost control of the money, lost control of the argument and lost contact with reality. This leaves ordinary households facing the hard reality of ever rising gas and energy bills.
