Green subsidies added to families’ energy bills are to rise nearly four-fold by 2030, according to a report published today.
State funding for wind and solar power and a carbon tax on coal and gas will together add £175 to the average household bill by 2030, according to the Government’s climate advisors.
That is nearly four times the £45 added to bills last year, the Committee on Climate Change said.
The cost of energy to business and industry is set to double in the same period, with the price of goods and services bound to increase as a result.
The report is published as politicians from 196 countries meet in Peru to try to agree a treaty to curb climate change.
Britain has already adopted the most stringent climate law in the world – a legal obligation to reduce greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050.
But Mr Davey wants other nations to follow suit, to adopt rules that will force them to reduce emissions.
The impact of such policies is laid bare in the Committee on Climate Change report today.
In order to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in line with its strict targets, the British government has agreed to plough money into solar farms, wind turbines and nuclear power – with the cost added to consumer bills.
The Government also has several measures in place designed to deter companies from emitting greenhouse gases, which in turn create a ‘carbon price’ that is added to the cost of power generated by gas, coal and oil.
The committee estimates that these measures together made up £45 of the average £1,140 dual gas and electricity bill in 2013.
The green components will more than double to £100 by 2020, and soar to £175 by 2030, by which time the total average bill will be £1,305.
The committee also identified £70 added to bills to support energy efficiency measures such as new boilers in low income homes and for wall and loft insulation. This element will of bills will decrease to £60 in 2020 and £40 in 2030.
The committee said that funding for green power helped cut as much emissions as taking 10 million cars off the road.
Most of the rises in household bills, which have increased almost £500 on average since 2004, are due to rising wholesale gas prices and investment in electricity and gas networks, it said.
The cost to business will also rise, with the green element of energy bills set to double to 31 per cent for the commercial sector and 26 per cent for the industrial sector.
Consumers will undoubtedly be effected by this, with the cost due to drive up the price of food, clothes and services.