Oh, and it seems unfashionable to mention it now, but net zero is also essential to maintaining a safe climate. Heat waves, like all other climate impacts, will get far, far worse if we don't decarbonise.
And ignore the childish 1% argument, the UK still plays a big role in global climate action
None of this is to deny that there are costs and challenges associated with net zero - there are, and I spend my working day trying to tackle them.
But the idea that net zero is the biggest problem facing the UK economy, or the main reason energy bills are high, just does not stand up to scrutiny.
The cost of running the electricity grid - both upgrading wires and balancing the newly renewables-dominated grid - is rising quite a bit. Some of this is a cost of switching to renewables - we do need to invest in the system. Some is down to the grid being built in the 1950s and needing an upgrade
And, if you're doing the "UK has most expensive industrial electricity"...
We may well do, but remember you're quoting a 2024 figure that seems very, very dicey, and the government has recently subsidised a lot of industries (like Germany does)
www.nesta.org.uk/blog/how-cou...
But if you put this all together - if you ask why your energy bill, both electricity and gas, have been rising in the last 5 years...
... the answer is overwhelmingly "wholesale costs". Which, in the context of all these fossil fuel crises, you can read as "gas".
www.nesta.org.uk/blog/is-gas-...
... there are some early signs this is bearing fruit.
In July, gas bills will go up by 28% as a result of the Iran war. We'd historically expect electricity to go up by almost as much, but it's up by only 6%. An early sign that the government's plan is working?
www.nesta.org.uk/blog/july-en...
So to recap:
- Energy prices have been rising for 25 years, long before net zero
- Early renewables did push up costs, but the current government has begun removing those costs
- Network costs are rising, but are still dwarfed by wholesale
- Renewables are making electricity cheaper in this crisis
Just to deal with a couple of other points...
Yes, the cost of renewables contracts for difference (esp offshore wind) have risen recently. But primarily due to higher interest rates, which also affects other capital-intensive types of power, like nuclear
(New gas plants also cost a fortune btw)