{"id":389945,"date":"2025-07-20T13:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T11:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389945"},"modified":"2025-07-20T13:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T11:50:30","slug":"pinchbecks-soviet-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389945","title":{"rendered":"Pinchbeck\u2019s Soviet Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In some ways I pity Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, who, on the latest edition<\/a> of their The Rest is Politics<\/em> podcast, have put themselves through an hour of Net Zero word soup from the new Climate Change Committee CEO Emma Pinchbeck. I have listened to it (or as much as I could endure) so you don\u2019t have to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is alarming that someone like this is anywhere near the levers of power. Take Ms Pinchbeck\u2019s views on electricity costs, for example. In one place, she says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Gas is more expensive than renewables. And it means that the electricity price that would be cheaper is driven up by the cost of gas. And so our electricity price tracks the gas price.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To anyone who understands electricity markets, this remark is positioned somewhere between \u2018misleading\u2019 and \u2018deceptive\u2019: it is only wholesale markets that track gas prices, and since gas prices are now only a whisker above their long-term average, they can no longer be (correctly) blamed for pushing bills up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, she repeatedly invites Campbell, Stewart and the listeners to believe that renewables are not the problem. She mentions \u2018cheap renewables\u2019 three times, as well as other terms insinuating the same idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in another part of the interview, she seems to recognise that it\u2019s policy costs pushing bills up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Our policy costs sit on the electricity part of our bill\u2026 what we have accidentally done is make the fuel of the future\u2026more expensive with a policy choice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

(The ellipses there cover a positive deluge<\/em> of word soup, but I think I have captured her meaning correctly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is more, she seems to understand that those policy charges to consumers are covering the costs of all the green nonsense:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2026the decision to put those costs on electricity is in one way logical because some of that is financing new electricity infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

She is not wrong. Analysis of Ofgem data (Figure 1), shows that policy costs are now 33% of the electricity bill, 20% of it being renewables subsidies and most of the rest being Net Zero related. Net Zero is also driving up grid costs (the red sections of the pie).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Breakdown of median electricity bill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 2 shows the difference in bills today and bills ten years ago. It is almost solely about Net Zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 2: How bills changed between 2015 and 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having somehow contrived to get two somewhat contradictory thoughts \u2013 \u2018gas is driving up electric bills\u2019 and \u2018renewables subsidies are driving up electricity bills\u2019 \u2013 in her head, Ms Pinchbeck seems mystified that people find her unconvincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

So when they hear people like me telling them that renewables are cheap or these technologies are cheap and they see their bill, they think\u2026we must be making it up.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And they would be right to think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Pinchbeck proceeds to her solution. Which is to move those policy costs off electricity bills and onto taxation. This in an odd remedy, given that she has told everyone that electricity bills track gas prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also remarkable given she clearly understands that the policy levies represent the costs of \u201cnew electricity infrastructure\u201d. As most of my readers probably know, prices convey information about underlying costs, supply and demand to buyers. Removing levies from electricity bills would simply destroy that information flow. In other words, the Pinchbeck solution would have electricity buyers and sellers operate entirely in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, of course, where the Soviet Union went wrong. I suppose we should cut Ms Pinchbeck some slack, because she was only seven when the wall came down. And I might cut Messrs Campbell and Stewart some slack for failing to pick up the contradictions or idiocies \u2013 neither are experts, and Ms Pinchbeck\u2019s word soup is nothing if not impenetrable. But it will still be be depressing if, having appointed someone so young to such an important position, the UK has to learn the lessons of history all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Montford<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author is the director of Net Zero Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In some ways I pity Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, who, on the\u00a0latest edition\u00a0of their\u00a0The Rest is Politics\u00a0podcast, have put themselves through an hour of Net Zero word soup from the new Climate Change Committee CEO Emma Pinchbeck. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":389952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[691836692,691823159,691828871,691823770,691818069,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-389945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-cheap-renewables","9":"tag-climate-change-committee-ccc","10":"tag-electricity-markets","11":"tag-emma-pinchbeck","12":"tag-gas-prices","13":"tag-net-zero","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Screenshot-2025-07-20-134847.png?fit=1813%2C846&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Drr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":346275,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=346275","url_meta":{"origin":389945,"position":0},"title":"Emma Pinchbeck To Head Up\u00a0CCC","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Just what we need -\u00a0 a renewable lobbyist taking over at the Committee on Climate Change","rel":"","context":"In \"Committee on Climate Change\"","block_context":{"text":"Committee on Climate Change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=committee-on-climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Emma-Pinchbeck_Photo_2020-e1607070418890.webp?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Emma-Pinchbeck_Photo_2020-e1607070418890.webp?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Emma-Pinchbeck_Photo_2020-e1607070418890.webp?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Emma-Pinchbeck_Photo_2020-e1607070418890.webp?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Emma-Pinchbeck_Photo_2020-e1607070418890.webp?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":348591,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=348591","url_meta":{"origin":389945,"position":1},"title":"Renewable Lobbyist Promoted Renewable\u00a0Energy!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Emma Pinchbeck is now head of the Climate Change Committee. Six years ago, when she was Executive Director of Renewable UK, she proclaimed that CfDs would \u201csecure low-cost energy for consumers\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Change Committee (CCC)\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Change Committee (CCC)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change-committee-ccc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0EmmaPinchbeck.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0EmmaPinchbeck.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0EmmaPinchbeck.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0EmmaPinchbeck.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0EmmaPinchbeck.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":204870,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=204870","url_meta":{"origin":389945,"position":2},"title":"BBC & The Green Lobby","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Paul Homewood h\/t Joe Public One more example of BBC bias: This was the broadcast: https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/m0015lr9 It is hardly surprising that the contributors were firmly anti-fossil fuels: James Murray \u2013 Editor Business Green magazine His job is to promote the green agenda and lobby for the renewable industry. That\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0image-42.png?fit=787%2C448&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0image-42.png?fit=787%2C448&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0image-42.png?fit=787%2C448&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0image-42.png?fit=787%2C448&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":360924,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360924","url_meta":{"origin":389945,"position":3},"title":"Complacency at the Climate Change\u00a0Committee","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Listening to the PM programme on BBC radio 4 this evening, I was somewhat taken aback by an interview conducted by Evan Davis. 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