Emission targets will add 20pc to household energy bills By Russell Hotten

Last Updated: 1:20am BST 01/07/2008
Households already under pressure from soaring energy bills will see gas and electricity costs rise by an extra 20pc so that the UK can fund ambitious emission targets, according to a new report.
Consumers will have to find an extra £5.3bn by 2020 to meet the European Union's emission and renewable energy goals, the report for Ernst & Young claims.
Last week, the Government unveiled a strategy to invest in wind, solar, and other alternative energies.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the plan would be expensive - but it would be worth it.
However, E&Y also found that energy consumers believed they should not have to pay more.
More on energy
The E&Y report, called Costing the Earth, estimates that households will have to pay £213 more on average per year by 2020 to fund the £100bn or more of capital investment needed by the UK to meet the EU requirements.
Simon Harvey, a director at E&Y and co-author of the report, said: "Customers face a triple whammy - rising fuel and oil prices, the costs of climate-change mitigation, and the additional investment required to become more energy-efficient, for example by insulating the home."
The report also found that two-thirds of consumers surveyed are not prepared to pay more for their energy to combat climate change or reduce energy consumption.
"There seems to be a worrying degree of apathy among consumers towards reducing energy consumption, despite daily headlines about rising fuel bills," Mr Harvey said.