What's Fuelling Your Bill
Reporter - Tom Heap
Black Market
As energy bills bite harder than ever, is the government’s great energy gamble working? What fate awaits the increasing number of people already struggling to keep the cold at bay? Ministers blame forces beyond their control. Profit-hungry companies and world gas prices. So why is the government hooked on wind turbines, one of the most expensive ways of generating electricity. And we uncover the strange tale of how Tony Blair saddled us with a very hefty bill.
We are power hungry. Day and night we depend on energy to feed our economy and run out homes. But the bill is higher than ever. On average it’s costing £1,345 per household every year.
So is this price hike a painful blip, or is it the start of an agonising trend?
To answer, we’ll need to go behind the switch to understand the mechanics of the energy business and how politicians are dictating its future.
Steelite is one of the few surviving potteries in Stoke. They make robust crockery for hotels and cruise liners, most of them abroad. Their kilns, used for firing the pottery, are big energy consumers. Their energy bill runs at about 2.5 million. It has to be closely monitored. But their success in creating both exports and jobs could be shattered by the fuel bill. This industry has lost lots of companies over the years.
The government appears keen to deflect anger over price rises towards energy companies. But their policy actions commit us to a hefty price tag. A massive switchover to
home-grown, low-carbon energy. More protected from global fuel price swings. But it’s a gamble, playing with new technology, international markets and our energy habits at home. One thing’s certain, though, up front it’s perilously expensive and it’s racking up our bills.
At stake is 200 billion pounds of our money which will be spent to revolutionise the way we power our lives.
Primarily less dirty coal and more clean wind.
If we spin forward to 2020, the government wants energy from renewables like wind and solar to jump from 7 to 30 percent of output.
But, here’s the problem, the traditional power generators which are being cut back, are cheap, costing £78 per Megawatt/hour to feed into the grid. Whereas electricity from the favoured new sources like offshore wind, costs £170 per Megawatt/hour, more than double
