British households look set to be hit with increased energy bills after a green White Paper was unveiled last week. The charges have been dubbed by some as ‘green stealth taxes’. The funds raised will be used to help tackle climate change by building alternative power generators such as wind turbines.

At present, the renewables part of power bills stands at around £55 on average. Subsidising renewable energy further could more than double this figure to as much as £120 per year by 2014. The UK Energy Research Centre has predicted by 2050, the renewable energy subsidy will cost the economy £17 billion a year – around £700 per household.

The UK is pushing hard to find more renewable energy sources as the Government has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the UK by 34 percent in 11 years and 80
Percent in 40 years. At present, the UK is the only country with legally binding CO2 targets. The UK is facing an uphill struggle with just three percent of electricity currently coming from renewable sources.

To ensure that more people don’t fall into fuel poverty, the Government is also thought to be planning social tariffs whereby the poor and the elderly will not have to pay the full extra subsidy and energy companies will instead by forced to subsidise this cost by adding extra to the bills of better off clients.

To push the green incentive even further, householders may be offered incentives to produce their own energy for example through solar panels. Smart meters may also be introduced to help householders analyse their power use and help reduce it.

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