{"id":308250,"date":"2024-03-14T08:57:40","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T07:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=308250"},"modified":"2024-03-14T08:57:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T07:57:43","slug":"millions-of-households-face-200-jump-in-energy-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=308250","title":{"rendered":"Millions of households face \u00a3200 jump in energy bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans to boost UK\u2019s energy security with gas-fired power stations to cost consumers \u00a35bn.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Households face paying almost \u00a3200 extra on their energy bills under plans to keep Britain\u2019s lights on by building more gas-fired power stations.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts said the policy, announced by Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, would result in a bill of around \u00a35bn for consumers, equivalent to \u00a3178 per household, most likely spread over a decade or more. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Smout, of Aurora Energy Research, which conducted the findings, said: \u201cWhat consumers are being asked to buy is energy security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe priority is to keep the lights on by having backup for the intermittency of renewables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn extra 5Gw of new backup generating capacity is needed to keep the lights on. Each gigawatt of capacity will cost about \u00a31bn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Documents published on Tuesday by the Government said plans to boost Britain\u2019s energy security by building more gas-fired power stations will be funded by bigger payments to plant operators, resulting in higher energy bills for homes and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electricity generators will be paid via the so-called capacity market, an auction system that pays operators to be on 24-hour standby to deliver power when supplies become tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plants will only be fired up\u00a0when renewable sources like wind and solar fail to deliver<\/a>, typically due to poor weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to official estimates published on Tuesday, gas plants are only expected to be used for around 700 hours in 2030 \u2013 the equivalent of about 29 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The predicted figure for 2035 is below half of that and falls to less than 100 hours from 2040 onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It follows a stark warning from ministers that for at least the next two decades Britain risks having too little generating capacity to keep the lights on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britain\u2019s ability to generate electricity has become increasingly reliant on the weather as net zero targets spur a shift to renewable power sources such as offshore wind and solar power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, periods of low wind and less sunlight, a phenomena known as \u201cdunkelflaute\u201d, create problems for energy supplies as it causes renewable production to plummet.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Announcing the new gas-fired power stations on Tuesday, Claire Countinho, the Energy Secretary, said: \u201cA weather-dependent, renewables-based electricity grid means we will need to have flexible power for when the wind doesn\u2019t blow, and the sun doesn\u2019t shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWithout gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":308255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"\u201cWithout gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts.\u201d","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818279,691819461,691823086,691818247,691818154,691819094],"class_list":["post-308250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blackouts","tag-energy-bills","tag-gas-fired-power-stations","tag-national-grid","tag-net-zero","tag-renewable-green-energy","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0blackout-7438156_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C905&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ibM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":400309,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=400309","url_meta":{"origin":308250,"position":0},"title":"Greenpeace Call For Strategic Reserve of Gas\u00a0Plants","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The government could save energy users \u00a35bn a year by overhauling the electricity market to stop gas-fired power stations from setting the wholesale price for electricity, according to the former energy tsar.","rel":"","context":"In \"Department for Energy Security and Net Zero\"","block_context":{"text":"Department for Energy Security and Net Zero","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OIG-2023-08-15T131137.784.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OIG-2023-08-15T131137.784.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OIG-2023-08-15T131137.784.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OIG-2023-08-15T131137.784.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":414364,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=414364","url_meta":{"origin":308250,"position":1},"title":"Britain faces threat of blackouts from \u2018nuclear planning paralysis\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/23\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s a bit late to panic now!","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackouts\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackouts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackouts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":284762,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=284762","url_meta":{"origin":308250,"position":2},"title":"\u2018Britain will need gas to avoid blackouts for decades\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/24\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The UK could experience its first large-scale blackout in decades this winter if gas shortages\u00a0combine with particularly cold weather.\u00a0A very cold winter with serious supply problems from Europe does raise the risk of power disruption significantly. 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