Comments on energy/cost of living support package

“One off payments to the most vulnerable will help to ease some worries about energy bills this winter. But the glaring omission from the Chancellor was a lack of a plan for home insulation, and with Ministers admitting that Treasury is blocking investment into energy efficiency, what will happen with household bills next year, beyond a stop-gap windfall tax?

“Temporary solutions are a sticking plaster and all estimates show gas prices will be high for years to come, so investing in insulating our leaky roofs and walls makes the best long-term use of taxpayers money. Reforming the energy market to detach expensive gas from wholesale electricity price is a logical, necessary step that will drive down bills, especially given how much cheaper wind and solar generation is today.”

Michael Grubb, Professor of Energy and Climate Change & Deputy Director, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, said: “After resisting for months, a windfall tax was becoming inevitable. The first focus will be on the government plans for redistributing the revenue. But a second question is now also unavoidable. What will the government do with the UK energy system?

“Our electricity market means that consumers pay doubly for the high cost of gas – once through heating, and again through the impact of gas on electricity prices, even though renewable energy is now far cheaper. It is the system itself that needs bold measures: to invest in energy efficiency, remove removal of obstacles to the cheapest and quickest renewables available, and reform how the market works.”