Ed Miliband, the UK’s Energy Secretary (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero), has sparked controversy by suggesting that pubs could reduce their energy bills by serving beer at slightly warmer temperatures and implementing other simple energy-saving measures.

This stems from a new government-backed online advice tool launched in March 2026, designed to help hospitality businesses (pubs, restaurants, hotels) cut energy use amid rising costs. The tool recommends practical steps like:

• Switching off bottle fridges and other refrigeration overnight when not needed.
• Turning off ovens or other equipment when idle.
• Serving beer slightly warmer (reducing the need for intense chilling).

The idea is that refrigeration is one of the biggest energy draws in pubs, especially for lagers that are typically served very cold. Traditional British real ales are often served at cellar temperature (around 10–12°C / 50–54°F), which requires less cooling than ice-cold lagers.

The government has pushed back on some headlines, clarifying it’s not mandating warm beer but offering voluntary, practical tips via the tool. Examples cited include pubs that reduced energy use by 20–26% through similar measures, saving thousands annually.

This comes against a backdrop of ongoing high energy prices in the UK, affecting the hospitality sector hard. Miliband’s department frames it as common-sense advice for net-zero goals and cost savings, but it’s become a lightning rod for criticism about government priorities.

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Serve warmer beer to save on bills, Miliband tells pubs

Energy Secretary launches energy advice tool for hospitality businesses aimed at helping them cut costs

Pubs should serve warmer beer and turn off ovens to save money on their energy bills, Ed Miliband has said. The Telegraph has the story.

The Energy Secretary has launched an advice tool aimed at hospitality businesses, which he hopes will ease the burden of rising costs in the struggling sector. Serve warmer beer to save on bills, Miliband tells pubs.

The tool encourages firms to reduce unnecessary electricity use by turning off bottle fridges overnight and to monitor hotspots such as extraction systems, ovens and lamps.

It comes as fears mount that more pubs are being pushed to the brink, as the conflict in Iran sends energy prices soaring.

Analysis by The Telegraph last weekend suggested that the spike in energy bills will heap an extra £169m a year onto pubs’ costs, with Wetherspoons chief Sir Tim Martin saying businesses would have no choice but to push up prices.

Businesses claim they are being quoted energy rates around 30pc higher than in February, before the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran. Oil prices have risen from $73 (£55) a barrel before the strikes to hover around $100.

‘Eye-watering bills’

Industry leaders on Tuesday said the government tool would not save pubs from the “eye-watering bills” that were crippling hospitality businesses, with landlords ridiculing the suggestions as “groundbreaking stuff”.

Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “There are a host of appliances that you simply cannot turn off, many for health and safety reasons, so it is not just help with reducing eye-watering energy bills that the beer and pub sector needs the Government to help with, but the overall cumulative costs of doing business, including disproportionate tax bills.”

However, she said: “With the typical pub making just 12p profit on every £5 pint, it’s essential for landlords to save money on their energy bills wherever they can, with the added bonus of reducing their carbon footprint.”

A trial of the tool was overseen by tech firm Carbon Zero Services last year.

Mark Holden, the company’s chief executive, said: “When you put energy savings into real hospitality terms, the impact becomes very clear.

“Saving around £2,000 a year is the equivalent of the profit from selling thousands of pints or the breathing space that protects hard-won margins during quieter months.”

Read the full story here.