This story claim that, as part of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s upcoming £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the UK government is considering a new green levy of around £30 per year on gas bills.

This would effectively mean gas boiler owners subsidise lower electricity costs, making heat pumps more economically viable by narrowing the current price gap (electricity is roughly 4x more expensive per unit than gas).

This story reflects ongoing debates in UK energy policy about decarbonising home heating, with media outlets (often right-leaning ones like the Mail) framing it critically as a “tax” on gas users.

For the latest official updates, check gov.uk or DESNZ announcements.

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From The Daily Sceptic

By Will Jones

Gas boiler owners could face a £30 green levy on their energy bills to subsidise heat pump owners under plans reportedly being considered by Ed Miliband. The Mail has the story.

The Energy Secretary is expected to unveil a bumper £15 billion warm homes plan next month following months of discussions with the Treasury over costs.

Mr Miliband is hoping to make gas users pay to encourage the uptake of heat pumps by imposing the levy to artificially cut electricity bills, reported the Times.

The Government is trying to move away from gas because its price is far more volatile amid a push towards what Ministers claim will be cheaper renewable energy.

The cost per unit of gas at 6.29p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) under the Ofgem price cap is currently a quarter of the electricity rate at 26.35p – known as the ‘spark gap’.

It comes after the Chancellor said last month she was trying to cut energy bills and the overall cost of living, with £150 off the average household bill from next year.

Rachel Reeves said in the Budget announcement that she would do this by scrapping the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme introduced by the Conservatives in government, which she claimed had cost households £1.7 billion a year on their bills.

Ending the ECO, which saw insulation and modern heating systems funded by a levy on all energy bills, meant a cut in average gas bills of about £30 a year per household.

But Mr Miliband’s plans mean such a benefit could now be wiped out – and energy campaigners suggested a range of alternatives for the Government to consider. …

Green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince criticised the change, telling the Times: “It impacts the people that can least afford their bills, let alone dream of a heat pump. 

“If you get a Government subsidy for a heat pump, you still need to find £7,000 yourself.”

But the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) insisted to the Mail today that suggestions over the new levy are simply “speculation”.

Worth reading in full.