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Consumers face £200 rise in energy bill

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Published Date: 12 July 2009
HOUSEHOLD energy bills could rise by more than £200 a year under the government's low-carbon strategy which will be unveiled this week.
The Renewable Energy Strategy, which will be published on Wednesday, will state that more than £100 billion will have to be invested in renewable energy infrastructure, including 7,000 wind turbines, by 2020.

It is claimed that Britain's targets for cutting emissions could push another 1.7 million households into fuel poverty, meaning that seven million homes would be spending more than 10 per cent of their income on fuel.

The UK government has bound itself legally to cutting CO2 emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050. To achieve this, it must increase the amount of energy generated from renewable sources from 2 per cent now to 15 per cent by 2020.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, admitted that bills would rise, but said that the targets were not the only factor. He said: "There is upward pressure on energy prices whether you go for a high-carbon or a low-carbon alternative."





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  • Last Updated: 11 July 2009 7:31 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
 
1

Punta Prima,

BALERNO 12/07/2009 00:17:23
#1 read the story this is the UK government so your anti Scottish government jibe is baseless.
2

For Scotlands Future,

Vote for the SNP 12/07/2009 01:21:26
#1
It even says "The UK government".
Are you getting angry because the UK doesn't have either an Oil Fund, or a coherent plan for husbanding it's Oil resources, like, say, Norway has??

Are you suggesting that the SNP be b;lamed for that??

The reason your bill will be going up is because the Westminster government has been raping Scotland's Oil, p*****g it up against the wall and not putting anything aside for when it runs out. The result? When you have to start developing and buying renewable energy, they cost a lot.

Another benefit of the union with England.
3

Am Fògarrach,

12/07/2009 01:55:53
2&3

You don't understand. Malaclypse aka AM2 aka smee aka sm753 is a dedicated unionist who would love to see Scots have to pay more for electricity.

He cares so much he needs to make up childish names for Alex Salmond, so he has descended from being an intelligent poster to being a slimy troll. He thinks it would serve us rightfor being rebellious.

I agree that Salmond is being overidealistic about the future of renewables, but he hardly "prances and pretends."

4

,

12/07/2009 05:17:26
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
5

John Cameron,

St Andrews 12/07/2009 08:33:56
Fat Al warbles on about parallels between Global Warming and Hitler but the moves now being made by the world's political establishment to lock us into a Doomster “Copenhagen” treaty are far more alarming. Last week at Berlusconi’s Jolly in Italy, the various functionaries of our emerging “world government” agreed in principle that by 2050 carbon dioxide emissions must be cut in half. Britain and the US are already committed to cutting their use of fossil fuels by more than 80 per cent. Short of an unimaginable technological revolution, this could only be achieved by closing down virtually all our economic activity. All this is being railroaded by a gigantic publicity machine, by the UN, by government-funded scientific “committee jockeys”, by Green Loonies such as Prince Charles, and by politicians who have no idea what they are setting in train. The fact is that the runaway warming predicted by the UN computer models is simply not happening. The latest figures available show that temperatures have now fallen to their average level since satellite data began 30 years ago. Why, since the official computer models have been proved wrong, should we rely on them for future projections?
6

Lee John,

12/07/2009 08:42:18
#1

Do you read the article before you spout your man-juice over the keyboard?
7

Unimpressed one,

12/07/2009 09:18:48
#7, Doesn't matter that it's the UK government - Salmond is even more idiotic. He would trash the Scottish countryside in a vain bid to demonstrate to the rest of the world that this country should be one of the first to cut its economic throat in pursuit of absolutely sod all.
Salmond is a loony socialist with a massive chip on his shoulder. They don't come much worse than that.
8

The Former Mr. Angry,

Perth 12/07/2009 09:52:44
This is the reality of eco-loons in operation - bigger bills and Disneyland science to back up a reduction in economic activity to wasteland levels. The idiots who dreamed up the 80% reduction factor and no more than 2C increase by 2050 include the vastly discredited Brown and the yet-to-be-found-out O'Bampot. Alex Salmond seems to be pinning his flag to this dangerous philosophy and fails to appreciate the economic and technical reealities of too much reliance on windmills and less on proven sources of power including at least some nuclear and coal-fired.

This one-trick pony approach to power generation and adherence to unproven climate science is very short-sighted and will railroad us into real problems even in the medium term. And as the lights start to dim we'll know who to thank.
9

mr broon,

Edinburgh 12/07/2009 10:03:20
Electricite de France(EDF)the State-owned nuclear power company, which now has the largest controlling interest in British Energy, the company which runs the UK's nuclear power stations, also has a large renewables subsidiary EDF Naturelle.

EDF Naturelle builds wind farms all over France and rest of the EU, and intends to build many large onshore and offshire wind farms in the England and Wales, IF it can overcome local opposition, and obtain planning permission.

State-owned EDF intends to produce more than 20 percent of France's electrity from renewables by 2020.
Costs will not affect future energy bills which will be subsidised by the French Government.

In Northern and Western France, all home owners receive free grants to completely insulate their homes. (EDF website)

By completely insulating homes, occupiers can recoup the cost within 2 years and save an average of £280 per annum. The cost of insulation has dropped 70 percent in the past 5 years.
(Source: UK Energy Trust website)
10

Herry Oaksters,

12/07/2009 11:14:40
1
Malaclypse the Younger.
Like making a fool of yourself do you?
11

jkr,

Lochwinnoch Greater Glasgow 12/07/2009 11:36:59
Ban greenhouses!
12

,

12/07/2009 11:55:38
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
13

Edward,

12/07/2009 12:56:18
#10 mr broon,Edinburgh
That will be the same EDF that Gordon Brown's brother is a director of
It is becoming interesting to see if you can get a used fiver between EDF production plans and Labour's energy plans
14

Edward,

12/07/2009 12:57:58
'Consumers face £200 rise in energy bill'
Actually its £ 230 at today's prices
15

Electric Hermit,

12/07/2009 14:27:03
Leaving aside their sad compulsion to attack Alex Salmond in the most puerile fashion, I am perplexed as to why the likes of The Former Mr. Angry and John Cameron get quite so exercised about efforts to create a diverse, secure and sustainable energy economy.

Can it be that they are ideological capitalists who believe with all the fervour of the religious fanatic that constantly accelerating growth is the road to salvation?

Can it be that they are so irretrievably wed to the economic imperatives of laissez-faire capitalism that they would see society collapse and the very planet rendered uninhabitable rather than forsake the dogma of mass consumption, instant gratification and short-term gain?

Is it possible that they can be so blinded by their passion for private profit that they are unable to see the precipice they want us to rush towards at an ever increasing rate?

I think it was Bill Clinton who defined insanity as doing the same things, and expecting a different outcome.

16

Geomac 1,

Scotland 12/07/2009 18:54:15
I'm surprised that anyone is surprised!!
It is inevitable that renewables will result in increased electricity costs - when they receive a subsidy of the order of 5 pence per unit (kWh).
No politician of whatever party is immune from blame - they all supported the Renewable Obligation and Renewable Obligation (scotland) legislation!!
Then we have the hypocrites like Gore who is a climate change fanatic but his company (in London) makes a fortune out of dumb carbon trading - which doesn' make a hoot of difference to CO2 emssions. CRAZY!!
17

Electric Hermit,

12/07/2009 19:04:21
17
Geomac 1

"...they all supported the Renewable Obligation and Renewable Obligation (scotland) legislation!!"

Would you have preferred to wait for "The Market" to provide a solution?

18

nabodican,

Newton Stewart 13/07/2009 08:20:35
First the Scottish government capitulated to the wind industry with the result that the turbinisation of Scotland is well under way. Now we have Westminster capitulating which is no surprise when you consider that a few short years and several energy ministers ago, Brian Wilson got David Still who was boss of Amec Wind and chairman of the BWEA the job of "Renewable energy advisor" for the government.

 

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