Reports of lower energy bills have been greatly exaggerated

The UK’s now renewable-heavy energy mix also needs to have a large fleet of gas-fired power stations on standby – so they are there, ready to be fired up on days when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun doesn’t shine. The alternative is that the lights go out – with all the economic and societal chaos that would involve.

Such “intermittent” periods can last weeks in the UK, especially during winter, when energy demand is high. 

But having gas-fired stations on standby to facilitate the more extensive use of renewables is hugely expensive – as the sky-high fixed costs of being able to produce energy at short notice are spread across much smaller revenues, given that the gas-fired stations in question are, for long-periods, standing idle.

Even on days when it is sunny and windy, UK electricity prices are driven by the marginal cost of generation – that is, the spot price of gas. And the shift to renewables is significantly inflating this marginal cost, pushing up household bills too – whatever we’re told about “low cost” renewable energy.

For now, renewable companies make serious money from the very intermittency problems they’re meant to be solving. The government meanwhile takes a big slice – via a low-key but hefty renewable windfall tax.

As such, the operation of our renewable-heavy electricity market has seriously aggravated the cost of living crisis. Yet rather than reforming this pricing system, easing household bills, the government raids renewable profits – an ever-increasing household energy “stealth tax”.

It is in this context of high energy prices despite years of subsidies to renewable providers that the question of how we get to net zero – and who pays – is becoming increasingly hotly debated. Reaching the 2050 target has enormous cost implications not only for households and firms, but also the Government.