Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power

The report argues that delivering existing clean power commitments would allow the UK to produce 98% of its electricity from clean sources by 2030, saving the average household £300 per year and reducing total household costs by £8.7 billion. It contrasts a 'Delivering commitments' scenario with a 'Falling short' scenario, noting that the latter would increase reliance on volatile fossil gas imports and result in the UK remaining a net importer of electricity. While grid investment would increase network costs, these are outweighed by a significant drop in wholesale electricity prices. The report identifies critical barriers to this transition, including slow permitting processes, grid connection delays, and unsuccessful renewable auction rounds, particularly for offshore wind.

• If the UK delivers on existing commitments, it can produce 98% of its electricity from clean sources by 2030, resulting in an average household electricity bill that is £300 cheaper than the Q3 2023 Ofgem price cap.
• The 'Delivering commitments' scenario could provide total savings of £8.7 billion for UK households in 2030 compared to current levels, whereas a 'Falling short' scenario would cost each household an additional £40 per year.
• A transition to clean power would significantly reduce wholesale electricity costs by approximately two thirds by 2030, which more than offsets the expected increase in network charges required for grid investment.
• Ambitious renewable deployment would transform the UK from a historical importer of electricity into a net exporter of 49 TWh annually by 2030, compared to importing 4 TWh in a 'Falling short' scenario.
• The 'Delivering commitments' pathway would reduce reliance on imported fossil gas by half, equivalent to 4 bcm lower imports, and enable the production of 34 TWh of green hydrogen.
• Significant barriers hinder the transition, including permitting times of five to seven years for wind and solar farms and grid connection delays that can reach 10 to 15 years.
• The UK's 2030 target of 50 GW of offshore wind is at high risk following a renewable auction round that failed to secure any offshore wind capacity.

APA

Candlin, A., Dizon, R., Brown, S., MacDonald, P., & Black, R. (2023). Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/cutting-the-bills-uk-clean-power

Chicago

Candlin, Alison, Reynaldo Dizon, Sarah Brown, Phil MacDonald, and Richard Black. Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/cutting-the-bills-uk-clean-power.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Candlin |first1=Alison |last2=Dizon |first2=Reynaldo |last3=Brown |first3=Sarah |last4=MacDonald |first4=Phil |last5=Black |first5=Richard |title=Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power |publisher=Ember |date=18 October 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/cutting-the-bills-uk-clean-power |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{candlin2023cutting, author = {Candlin, Alison and Dizon, Reynaldo and Brown, Sarah and MacDonald, Phil and Black, Richard}, title = {{Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/cutting-the-bills-uk-clean-power}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }