Chris Huhne writes in the Guardian:
There are only two safe ways of getting prices down: increase supply or cut demand. Key to our energy bills are gas prices. We use a lot of gas to heat our homes, and it is usually the cheapest way of generating electricity so it also sets our electricity costs. But there is a puzzle. The wholesale gas price in Britain is nearly three times as high as in the United States. If we had US gas prices, consumers would save hundreds of pounds a year. Gas enthusiasts say this is due to the US fracking revolution driving down prices. George Osborne thinks if we turn Cheshire and Sussex into wildcatting Texas, our prices will fall. He has even given fracking a tax break.
But there would be no such effect. We have pipelines to mainland Europe. More gas from the North Sea did not much cut British prices. The US gas price is so low because it is hard to ship. It has to be liquefied, put in special ships, and then regasified when it arrives. The fracking revolution in the US has happened more quickly than the ability to turn import terminals into export terminals.
The key to lower British energy bills is not our own production, but more US export terminals. So far, just four terminals have been given permission, and more than 10 export terminals are still awaiting approval, even though the US has a legal obligation under the World Trade Organisation rules not to restrict exports.