UK Electricity Bills Highest in Europe Because of Nuclear Focus
Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, is likely to say that energy companies, such as Centrica and EDF, will get a fixed price for electricity generated from nuclear power and wind farms which is higher than the market price.
However, it is understood that the Government may delay another subsidy for power station owners, called capacity payments, while there is further consultation.
The financial incentives will be funded by consumers, who will see their electricity bills rise by 30pc during the next 20 years from £493 per year to £655. This estimate was made before electricity bills soared to their highest ever for millions of customers after 10pc to 15pc price increases by British Gas and Scottish Power in the past weeks.
However, ministers have decided to push through the costly package to make sure EDF, Centrica, RWE, E.ON, Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern think Britain is an attractive place to build nuclear power stations and wind farms. The UK needs to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions from power generation to hit European Union targets.
The changes will hand billions of pounds in subsidies to the energy companies and kick-start a construction programme creating thousands of jobs.
Related News

With New Distributed Energy Rebate, Illinois Could Challenge New York in Utility Innovation
NEW YORK - How does the electric utility fit in to a rapidly-evolving energy system? That’s what the Illinois Commerce Commission is trying to determine with its new effort, "NextGrid". Together, we’re rethinking the roles of the utility, the customer, and energy solution providers in a 21st-century electric grid.
In some ways, NextGrid will follow in the footsteps of New York’s innovative Reforming the Energy Vision process, a multi-year effort to re-examine how electric utilities and customers interact. A new approach is essential to accelerating the adoption of clean energy technologies and services in the state.
Like REV, NextGrid is gaining national…