The cost of switching off wind farms has been blamed for pushing up the energy price cap in a blow to Ed Miliband’s promise to cut bills by £300. [emphasis, links added]
Ofgem, the regulator, said the energy price cap for a typical dual-fuel tariff will increase from £1,720 per year to £1,755 in October.
It said the 2pc rise was partly down to an increase in electricity network “balancing costs”, which includes money spent on switching off wind farms when the grid is too congested to accept their power.
These balancing costs added around £1.23 per month to bills, Ofgem said.
Another major factor in the bill increase was a levy to fund the Government’s Warm Home Discount scheme, which provides a £150 discount per year to the UK’s poorest households.
This added another £1.42 per month to the price cap.
The numbers are embarrassing for Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, as he pushes ahead with plans to massively expand wind and solar power generation.
He has promised to cut household bills by £300 a year.
But on Wednesday, critics warned the cost of switching off wind farms was only set to grow.
So far in 2025, Britain has already spent an estimated £815m on switching off wind farms and firing up alternative sources of power elsewhere – usually gas plants – according to the Wasted Wind tracker website.
That is up by more than a quarter compared to the same period just a year earlier.
According to the National Energy System Operator, the bill is expected to rise to almost £4bn by 2030 – but could rise to as much as £8bn if grid upgrades are not delivered on time.
Octopus Energy, the country’s biggest energy supplier, warned that higher bills were “sadly inevitable” because of this.
An Octopus spokesman said: “The electricity market needs comprehensive reform so people benefit from cheap renewables rather than paying to turn off wind farms and then paying more for gas to replace the wasted wind.”
On Wednesday, the Government blamed the higher bills on the “fossil fuel penalty” being paid by households, with gas prices still above the levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said: “That is why the only answer for Britain is this government’s mission to get us off the roller-coaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, home-grown power we control, to bring down bills for good.
“At the same time, we are determined to take urgent action to support vulnerable families this winter.”
But Claire Coutinho, the Conservative shadow energy secretary, said this was “patently untrue”.
She said: “Wholesale prices are falling. Bill rises have come from balancing costs – the costs of using renewables – and rising standing charges from Labour’s social redistribution policies.
“These figures and Labour’s response make it crystal clear that Ed Miliband is not interested in the truth or cutting bills.”
Read rest at The Telegraph
