Efforts to cut energy bills and warm homes will not come with a new gas bills levy as had been reported over the festive period.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the Energy Secretary labelled news reports of a new charge “absolute nonsense”. Ministers also repeatedly vowed to publish the Government’s Warm Homes Plan and fuel poverty strategy “soon”.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“It’s a relief to hear that recent media reports of a new levy on gas bills were not based in any reality.
“With around a fifth of fuel poor homes suffering from high levels of carbon monoxide due in part to ageing gas boilers and the North Sea basin in geological decline and unable to provide enough gas to heat our homes from 2027, it’s clear we need to move away from gas as our main heating source in the long term.
“While bringing down electricity prices is key to this, there are plenty of other options the Secretary of State should consider before putting up gas bills. For example, we could see GB Energy invest in infrastructure so some of these costs could be taken off bills. The Government could reform how electricity pricing is set and reduce the impact of the role of energy market trading on prices. And the Treasury could step in and use the receipts from the Windfall Tax to wipe out the record levels of energy debt built up by households due to the profiteering by the energy industry during the crisis.
“These sort of changes would deliver lower energy bills and a fairer energy system for everyone.”