The Chancellor has demanded that the Energy Secretary Ed Davey abandon the UK’s pathway towards climate targets. In a leaked letter, George Osborne says renewables are too expensive and suggests expanding plans for gas-fired generation. James Murray, editor of BusinessGreen.com said: “Make no mistake this is an all-out assault on the entire green energy sector.”
The government’s adviser, the Climate Change Committee, says this will cause the UK to miss its 2030 climate goals.
The CCC warns that with volatile gas prices, consumers could end up paying more for electricity, not less.
The demands are laid out in a letter seen by BBC News.
The Draft Energy Bill in the early stages of Parliament aims to keep the lights on whilst meet government goals on climate change.
The CCC advises that in order to meet the goal of an 80% cut in CO2 by 2050 the government needs to have almost all electricity produced by low-carbon sources by 2030.
In his letter, dated 9 July, the Chancellor tells the Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary to give up that ambition and explicitly state that gas will play a core part in generation by 2030.
He writes: “We need to set out an approach which puts costs to consumers at the heart. (We should be) limiting support for low-carbon generation to a level the country can afford.
“We should commit publicly to ensuring that British consumers will be able to get benefits if the price of gas falls.”
