Ed Miliband has raised hopes that VAT on household bills could be removed at the Budget.
The Energy Secretary said that while he would not speculate ahead of the Chancellor’s budget next month, the Government understands that ‘we face an affordability crisis’.
He also insisted he is standing by Labour’s pledge to lower bills by up to £300 by 2030 – however, he would not say if it will happen sooner.
Ministers are under increasing pressure to act after household energy bills rose again this month.
The average bill increased from £1,720 to £1,755 per year.
But Mr Miliband denied his Net Zero drive is keeping Britons’ energy costs high, as he defended green levies on household bills.
His comments came despite bosses of Britain’s biggest gas and electricity suppliers warning MPs earlier this month that ‘non-commodity costs’ – charged by the Government to upgrade the grid and subsidise renewables – will keep households paying more even if wholesale prices plummet.
Mr Miliband told the BBC yesterday: ‘Bills are too high and we stand by our promise to get bills down by up to £300 by 2030.’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (pictured) has raised hopes that VAT on household bills could be removed at the Budget but denied his Net Zero drive is keeping Britons’ energy costs high
He added: ‘The reason why bills are so high, and this is really, really important, is because of our dependence on fossil fuels.’
Told that the Government could choose to reduce the green levies and social scheme charges that make up 20 per cent of household bills, he replied: ‘No I don’t think that is correct.
We’ve got an ageing electricity infrastructure, whether you go for fossil fuels or green energy you’ve got to build this infrastructure because we’ve got growing electricity demand, AI, all of those things.’
Asked if it would take five years for bills to fall, Mr Miliband said: ‘Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we build, it helps to get us off fossil fuels and onto clean energy.
‘I’m going to do it as soon as possible, I know my responsibilities.’
And questioned if Rachel Reeves plans to scrap the 5 per cent VAT rate on energy bills next month, he said: ‘I’m sort of old enough and wise enough to know I shouldn’t speculate on the Chancellor’s Budget.’
Asked if viewers could interpret anything from his ‘big smile’, he said: ‘The whole of the Government, including the Chancellor, understand that we face an affordability crisis in this country.’
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said if Labour ‘truly cared’ about cutting bills ‘they could do it tomorrow’.
She said: ‘Ed Miliband promised to cut bills by £300 but instead he is piling more pain on to people’s bills through green levies. We already have some of the cleanest electricity in the world, but it is also the most expensive.
‘While Miliband’s Net Zero obsession is pushing prices up, British industries are shutting down and investment is flowing overseas.’
The Tories have vowed to abandon the goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050, as well as repealing Mr Miliband’s flagship Climate Change Act and scrapping green taxes on energy bills.
