Paying a heavy price for green power

Published Date: 25 July 2009

THE cost of energy supply in the immediate future isn't all that households have to worry about. Earlier this month, the government unveiled its renewable energy strategy, which it described as a "route map" to a low carbon future.
It proposed investment of more than £3 billion in improving energy efficiency in homes, a smart electricity meter in every home by 2020 and incentives for households generating their own energy, among a raft of measures.But energy experts have warned the strategy could cost households about £253 a year in the form of higher energy bills, with a likely 15 per cent rise in the average electricity bill and a 23 per cent hike in gas bills. The government said much of this would be offset by energy efficiency savings, although critics claimed this would, in turn, be cancelled out by rises in the number of single-person households, an ageing population and growing use of consumer white goods.The comparison site www.uSwitch.com has estimated the average household energy bill could reach £5,000 a year in ten years, up from £1,242 now, due to the cost of extra investment in the UK's energy supplies, such as pipe upgrades, new power plants and smart metering.