Rushing to achieve Net Zero will cost households £500 a year over the next 25 years, according to a report.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) said it would cost the UK the equivalent of 0.4 per cent of GDP to meet clean energy goals.
However, the report found that if ministers chose to pursue a slower transition to achieve most of the UK’s carbon goals, it would save households billions.
It said that between 2025-50, costs would be £14billion per year – or £350billion over that time – to achieve Net Zero by 2050. The quango – which took over from the National Grid last year – also found that Britain could halve the share of spending related to energy by 2050.
However, if the UK got to 80 per cent decarbonisation by 2050, it would save £14 billion a year – though costs would later increase.
The Conservatives said the UK could not afford to rush towards Net Zero goals and suffer high electricity prices as a result.
Claire Coutinho, shadow energy secretary, said: ‘For years, the public have been told the lie that Net Zero means cheaper energy.
‘This report shows the truth – rushing to Net Zero is forecast to make our energy system £350 billion more expensive than going slower. Britain cannot afford to spend the next 25 years having uncompetitive electricity prices.’
Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband pledged to meet the targets by 2050
A race to green energy targets is estimated to cost £350 billion. Pictured: Barrow Offshore Wind Farm
Labour pledged ahead of the election to reduce bills by £300 but the energy price cap has increased by £190 since the party came to power. They are still rising even as wholesale power and gas prices are falling due to higher grid and policy costs, which include green levies.
Claire Dykta, a director at NESO, said: ‘Projecting future energy costs is notoriously difficult, but our analysis suggests that Britain could halve the share of spending related to energy by 2050.
‘Our analysis also shows that we would be less exposed to energy price volatility under a decarbonised energy system, reducing the economic impact of a spike in prices as we saw in 2022.
‘Our pathways are designed to provide insights that could support strategic planning and policy development, and we have also identified scope for costs to be lower than what we have modelled.’
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: ‘We fundamentally reject the idea that these illustrative scenarios accurately reflect the cost of moving to clean energy, which has enormous benefits in bringing down bills for good.
‘As NESO point out, they do not reflect or predict the cost of Net Zero, recognising the likely path is highly dependent on future fuel prices and the advancing pace of private sector rollout of Net Zero technologies.’