Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, has today called for urgent reform of the UK energy market following new forecasts that household energy bills are set to rise sharply.
Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has warned that the price cap set by Ofgem could increase by 18%—equivalent to £288 per year—from July, driven by rising global gas prices amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
Commenting on the forecast, Vince said: “Another fossil fuelled energy crisis is underway. The last time it happened the Conservative’s response was hugely expensive, and badly targeted. Labour has a chance to do this differently. We need to tackle the root causes not the symptoms. We need reform – of the energy market.
“First, give North Sea operators a fixed, stable price for oil and gas — using the same mechanism that has been so successful for green energy projects – Contracts for Difference.
“Second, ‘break the link’ between global gas prices and the price we pay for our own green energy.
“Third, control the network operators by capping their profits in line with the retail cap. Set them at 2% instead of 40%.These are foreign owned, total monopoly businesses making extraordinary returns while failing to invest in our networks and jacking up our energy bills.”
On the wider geopolitical context, Vince described the US-Israel war on Iran as: “illegal.”
He added: “These measures combined could halve our energy bills in normal times and right now help Britain weather the storm caused by Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal war. And make us better protected from the next global fossil fuel crisis.”
