Net Zero costs report criticised

Renewables groups and environmentalists have criticised a Conservatives-backed report on the cost of net zero.

The report by centre-right think tank Onward said that households could save about £540 a year after 2030 if net zero regulations are scrapped with a commitment to make energy as cheap as possible.

The study, titled Firm Foundations, which used modelling by the consultancy Transira Energy, compares the likely trajectory of current policy against an “alternative policy pathway” built around demand and supply.

However James Sutton, Co-Executive Director of climate lobby group Zero Hour, said the government must “stay strong” and committed to renewables.

“The Conservatives might want us to forget 2022, but families will still remember the difficult choices they were forced to make when their bills shot up at the hands of a fossil fuel driven energy crisis” he said.

“The price of electricity is high precisely because it is tied to the volatile price of gas. Yes, Britain needs control of its own energy. But doubling down on the North Sea or fossil fuels does the exact opposite.”