Save families equivalent of £540 a year by ditching net zero dogma and putting cheap electricity first, say Conservatives

The Conservatives are today exposing the hidden costs of net zero in a new report which reveals we can save families the equivalent of £540 per year by prioritising cheap power.

In a first-of-a-kind report, Onward compares the cost of a Net Zero electricity grid compared to one which prioritises cheaper power. The Cheap Power system saves consumers over £320 billion over 20 years, makes Britian's electricity structurally a third cheaper by 2050, and is still nearly 80% clean.

The Cheap Power system builds a bit more gas, a lot more nuclear and far fewer renewables than in the Net Zero grid. It makes nearly half its savings from having to build far fewer pylons and cables to connect far-off wind and solar farms into the grid. The rest comes from lower wholesale costs, spending less money switching wind farms off when it's too windy, and fewer subsidies.

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho commissioned a true costing of renewables in the Energy Department nearly three years ago when she was Secretary of State for Energy, but it was subsequently cancelled by Ed Miliband when Labour came into power.

At a major press conference today, Claire Coutinho will make the case that cheap electricity is better for the economy, for living standards and for the environment too.

Just 10 per cent of UK emissions are in electricity generation. The vast majority are in heating, transport, and the rest of the economy. Labour's choice to rush to perfectly clean electricity no matter the cost is making electricity expensive and pushing electrification out of reach for the rest of the economy.

Labour's dash to renewables ignores the hidden costs of an electricity system with too much wind and solar power: the additional cables and pylons to connect it into the grid, expensive backup power for when it's not windy enough, and paying wind farms to switch off when it's too windy.

When she launched her mission of Renewal for the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch said that meeting the UK's net zero target by 2050 was not feasible and could only happen with a serious drop in our living standards or the country going bankrupt. She made clear that the Party, under new leadership, would have no sacred cows.

The Conservatives are the only party doing the hard work to deliver a plan for affordable and reliable energy. Our Cheap Power Plan, which includes scrapping green levies and Getting Britain Drilling in the North Sea, will bring bills down for households and ensure businesses get the energy they need at prices they can afford.

Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party said:

Britain needs a serious plan to deal with climate change. Seriousness means looking at results, not simply setting targets and congratulating ourselves afterwards. Current Net Zero targets have driven up energy costs, weakened our industrial base, and made us more dependent on energy imports, while doing too little to make the country more resilient to floods, droughts, and other consequences of the changing climate.

This report shows what a common sense approach looks like. Unlike Labour, who are wedded to the old failing plans; or Reform, who still don't believe climate change is happening, the Conservatives will protect our environment, protect our energy security and make energy cheaper. Our plan means using our own oil and gas in the North Sea, removing unnecessary costs from energy bills, and backing cheap, reliable, abundant energy for homes and businesses.

In her speech, Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho is expected to say:

We Conservatives are not in denial about climate change, it's the Left who are in denial about the fact their climate policy is failing.

Ed Miliband's Clean Power 2030 target is intent on squeezing every last drop of carbon out of our electricity no matter the cost.

But making electricity expensive puts electrification out of reach for ordinary families, and it's moving our industry to more polluting countries overseas forcing us to import back those same goods with higher emissions.

That is not improving the climate. It is madness especially when electrification is a far bigger prize than perfectly clean electricity when it comes to reducing emissions.

Rather than forcing people to do what we want, our job as politicians should be to lift the barriers in their way. That's why we should focus all our attention on making electricity cheap, and then let consumer choice be king.

That is the only approach that will work in the long term.

That's why for the economy or for the environment, cheap electricity is the holy grail.

Two years after Ed Miliband cancelled the true costing of renewables that I started, Onward have stepped in to finish the job.

This is the single most detailed costing of the electricity system that has been produced in British politics.    

The findings are remarkable. It shows we can save consumers over £320 billion on their electricity bills by 2050 if we prioritise cheap electricity over a Net Zero grid dominated by wind and solar, and we would still have electricity which is nearly 80% clean at the end of it.

That's the equivalent savings of £540 per British household, per year, for the next two decades.

It's the work that should have been done by Government but has not been because they are more driven by ideology than evidence.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• The embargoed report is attached to this email.

• The groundbreaking new report by Onward and Transira Energy reveals we could save consumers £320 billion on their electricity bills over twenty years, equivalent to ~£540 per household per year, by prioritising cheap electricity over Net Zero. 

• Whether it's for decarbonisation, improving living standards or creating a stronger economy, cheap electricity is more important thanclean electricity. We already have some of the cleanest electricity in the world, but our problem is that it's some of the most expensive.

• Only 10% of UK emissions come from the electricity system. 90% of emissions are in home heating, transport, industry and the rest of the economy. No one will be able to afford to electrify those things as long as we have the highest electricity prices in the developed world.

• Putting cheap electricity first would make electricity a third cheaper by 2050, but still nearly 80% clean.

• Labour's plan to add lots of wind and solar to the grid involves huge extra hidden costs: lots more grid infrastructure to bring the electricity to where it's needed, backup power for when the wind oesn't blow, and paying to switch wind farms off when the wind blows too much. All of these costs are added to bills. 

• When you factor in the full costs, modelling shows thata renewables-based system is much more expensive. If we change course and focus on cheap electricity, we couldreduce the cost of the system by 21% by 2035, and 31% by 2050. 

• This research has been produced by two highly regarded experts. The author of the Onward report, Ed Hezlet, is a former equity analyst. Marlon Dey of Transira, who did the system modelling, was previously Head of Research for the UK and Ireland at one of the largest energy consultancies, Aurora Energy Research.

• Claire Coutinho commissioned a true costing of renewables in the Energy Department, but Ed Miliband cancelled it when he entered office because hedidn't want the public to know the truth that a Net Zero grid dominated by wind and solar is very expensive.

Labour's Net Zero Plan: 

• Net zero obsession is increasing prices for consumers. Current plans are trying to remove 95% of emissions from the electricity system. But this research shows that a system based on wind and solar is vastly more expensive to operate, and those costs are levied on consumers' bills. 

• Increasing dependence on unreliable sources. The UK's firm' (i.e. reliable) generating capacity, including coal, gas, nuclear, hydro and biomass, has fallen by nearly 40% since 2010. That trend is continuing, with 80% of existing nuclear capacity scheduled to close by March 2030. 

• Inefficiency is built in. Because renewables only generate some of the time and cannot be relied upon, a lot more generating capacity must be built than will ever be needed. Labour's Clean Power 2030 plan includes building 4x more wind and solar generating capacity than the UK's average electricity demand. That all has to be paid for, even when it's not being used.  

The Cheap Electricity Alternative: 

• A much cheaper electricity system to build and operate. If we change course and focus on cheap electricity, we couldreduce the cost of the system by 21% by 2035, and 31% by 2050. 

• Huge savings for consumers. These costs could all be taken off consumers' bills, saving them £320 billion over twenty years, equivalent to ~£540 per household per year.

• Stripping costs out of the system. Almost half the savings come from having to build a lot less grid. Fewer pylons carving up the countryside and a more productive grid, which means cheaper electricity for consumers. 

• Prioritising cheap, reliable sources of electricity. Our alternative system would still have some renewables and a bit more gas, along with more than tripling current nuclear capacity.