A new report highlights that UK energy bills are being driven up by outdated regulations on how energy is generated, regulated and transmitted.
Despite a fall in international gas prices after the Ukraine invasion, British households continue to face high energy costs.
The report, authored by former Conservative minister John Penrose and published by the Centre for Policy Studies, provides recommendations aimed at reducing energy bills while staying on track for net zero by 2030.
Penrose’s report argues that the current system, heavily tied to international gas prices, has grown too complex, leading to increased costs.
He suggests twenty policy changes, which include decoupling energy bills from gas prices, addressing renewable energy intermittency and reducing transmission costs through local discounting.
Other recommendations include cutting regulatory red tape, reforming the energy price cap, and introducing a carbon border adjustment mechanism to support UK manufacturers.
John Penrose, the report’s author, said: “Families and businesses are facing enormous energy bills that are much higher than they should be, because of clunky old rules about how power is generated, regulated, traded, stored and transmitted.
“There is plenty of debate over cuts to the winter fuel payment but not enough of a conversation about how to lower bills across the board.
“Ed Miliband recently asked the director of National Grid ESO for ideas on how to decarbonise the electricity system, and this paper gives him 20 low-cost, no-regrets answers to his question.
“Without these ideas, net zero will cost billions of pounds more than it needs to, handing huge bills to British households and crippling UK manufacturing at the same time. But if we decarbonise in the right way, our energy can be both greener and cheaper.”
