New Research: EU energy policy could leave "pensioners shivering in their beds" warns leading economist

Dec 11 2008

Ahead of the European Council meeting on 11th December, which will discuss EU energy policy, leading economist Ruth Lea warns in a new briefing paper for the TaxPayers' Alliance and Global Vision that the proposed EU Renewables Directive would drive up electricity costs, harm the economy and increase fuel poverty. In a comprehensive survey of research on the issue by the British Government, the House of Lords and leading think tanks and energy consultancies, she concludes that the potential costs of the Directive will be unsustainably high for consumers, businesses and the economy as a whole.

The full report can be found here (PDF).

Key Findings:

- The annual extra cost of the Renewables Directive to the average family electricity bill could be as high as:

- £120 for each of the 20 years up to 2030. (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)

- £200 a year by 2020, equalling a lifetime cost per household of £2,800 up to 2020 (Pöyry Energy Consultancy, commissioned by Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)

- The Directive would require Britain to increase its use of renewable energy almost twelve-fold by 2020. This is the highest increase required of any EU country other than Luxembourg and Malta.

Ruth Lea, leading economist and Director of Global Vision, said:

“It is quite clear that the EU’s Renewables Directive will significantly push up electricity prices. There’ll be a double whammy. People, especially the less well–off and pensioners, will find their bills inexorably continuing to rise. And industry, especially the high-energy using sectors, will simply migrate overseas and jobs will be lost in Britain. Pressing blindly ahead with this scheme will seriously harm the economy and leave pensioners shivering in their beds.”