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The Telegraph, from the UK, reports that Kathryn Porter has a report showing that green levies on energy bills will hit 20 billion pounds by the end of the decade. If you think that green energy is cheaper, you might want to look at Germany, New York, California, New Jersey, Hawaii, and the UK. They all should be listed in the “what not to do for energy policies category.” I enjoyed visiting Kathryn Porter on the Energy Realities Podcast about issues around the Spanish power outages; she is a true energy leader.
UK Electricity Generation Mix in 2025
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Renewables: Account for 41% of the total, with wind being the largest contributor at 21.7%. Other renewables include biomass at 6.9%, solar at 5.2%, and hydro at 1.1%, with an additional 6.1% likely from emerging sources like marine energy. This growth reflects a decade-long trend, with renewables rising from 14.2% in 2015 to 42.2% in 2024, according to Renewable Energy Percentage UK – 41% as of April 2025.
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Fossil Fuels: Comprise 27.2%, predominantly gas at 27.1%, with coal reduced to a negligible 0.1% following its phase-out in September 2024, as noted in Britain’s Electricity Explained: 2024 Review | National Energy System Operator.
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Nuclear Power: Contributes around 14%, providing a stable baseload, with estimates based on monthly data like January 2025, where it was 12%, from Britain’s Electricity Generation – January 2025.
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Imports: Account for approximately 12%, varying by demand and domestic generation, with data from the same January 2025 analysis showing 12% imports.
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Other Sources: The remaining small percentage, likely less than 2%, may include storage and other minor contributions, ensuring the total sums to 100%.
From the article “Ed Miliband’s net zero crusade is adding billions to Britons’ energy bills”
That is despite it being closed to new entrants seven years ago. Its successor, the Contracts for Difference scheme (CfD), is adding another £2.3bn, she says.
The scale of the increase in levies over the past decade has alarmed many in the industry who question whether Miliband has a democratic mandate to raise such huge sums via a levy system that few consumers understand.
“If this money was being raised through taxation, it would be scrutinised by the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility, and by voters at general elections,” says Porter.
“But instead, Miliband is taking these subsidies from the pockets of consumers and giving them to renewable generators – without ever having had to win approval for the idea in an election.
“This mattered less in the past because the amounts were much smaller, but they have become far too large to stay in the shadows.”
Hidden costs
Porter analysed 10 levies that are eventually added to the bills paid by households and businesses.
She argues that the imposition of such levies is what has led to the UK paying the highest industrial electricity prices in the world, as well as the fourth-highest domestic power prices.
“The costs are paid by consumers based on policy choices designed to support renewable generation and the drive to net zero,” says Porter.
The relative lack of scrutiny applied to such levies worries other energy experts too.
Tom Smout, a leading analyst at energy specialists LCP Delta, says: “Energy levies are central to the economy but are mostly not counted as taxes so they are excluded from the Government’s main balance sheets.
“Taxes are treated differently. They show up in all the government accounts and are scrutinised by the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility. And both those organisations tend to favour progressive taxation because it frees up people’s money and promotes growth.”
Renewables also have other hidden costs that appear on bills, such as connection and network fees.
A gas-fired power station, for example, needs far fewer cables and substations to connect to the grid than the multiple wind farms needed to generate the same output.
Consumers subsidise the cost of those cables and substations via the network charges added to bills.
Wind farms also generate curtailment costs if they have to be switched off, while there are balancing costs to compensate for the intermittency of wind. Those charges, estimated at over £1bn last year, are also added to bills.
All of which means that Miliband’s argument that net zero will reduce bills by £300 by 2030 is looking increasingly shaky.
‘This is really serious’
Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, reinforced that point this week when he warned politicians against claiming renewables would cut bills.
The shift to renewable power “will not materially reduce UK electricity prices from current levels”, he said. “They may give price stability, and avoid future price spikes based on the international gas market, but they will definitely not reduce the price.”
The article contains a lot more, and I recommend reading the entire article at The Telegraph. It also raises a lot of questions about how energy prices are determined in the United States. We need to be grateful for our current Department of Energy leadership, but we also have to question all decisions going forward. Let’s learn from the past, and make better decisions going forward.
You need to look at the energy policies of your State and your local electric provider.
Here is the Energy Realities Podcast link with Kathryn Porter: “Net Zero’s Spanish Blackout – Special Guest Kathryn Porter”
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