Labour has said it will reduce energy bills as the UK transitions to green energy
Labour has pledged to cut energy bills by £300 a year (Image: Getty)
Labour has provided fresh details on its plans to cut energy bills by £300 a year by 2030.
The Labour Party repeatedly made the pledge during its General Election campaign last year and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has doubled down on the promise since being elected.
SNP MP Seamus Logan asked the Government in Parliament from what amount they plan to reduce energy bills when the £300 reduction takes effect.
Energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh provided a response. She said: “The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
“The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
“This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.”
The Warm Homes Plan includes extra funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which provides grants to help pay for switching from a fossil fuel heating system to a heat pump or biomass boiler.
Through the scheme, you can get £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump or £5,000 towards a biomass boiler.
Government projections suggest switching to a heat pump can saver a family around £100 a year on energy bills compared to a gas boiler while insulating a home can saver around £200 a year.
Ms Fahnbulleh spoke further about the Government’s plans: “We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030.
“This is why we are delivering the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households this winter. On February 25, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills.
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“These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The consultation has now closed and the Department is evaluating the responses.”
The Warm Homes Discount is a one-off £150 discount from your electricity bills. You can get the discount if you are on the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit and if you are on a low income or on certain means-tested benefits.
The Government is considering expanding the scheme to people on all means-tested benefits. In most cases, if you are eligible your supplier will automatically apply the discount to your bill – the funds are not paid to you directly.
These suppliers are part of the scheme:
- 100Green (formerly Green Energy UK or GEUK)
- Affect Energy – see Octopus Energy
- Boost
- British Gas
- Bulb Energy – see Octopus Energy
- Co-op Energy – see Octopus Energy
- E – also known as E (Gas and Electricity)
- Ecotricity
- E.ON Next
- EDF
- Fuse Energy
- Good Energy
- Home Energy
- London Power
- Octopus Energy
- Outfox the Market
- OVO
- Rebel Energy
- Sainsbury’s Energy
- Scottish Gas – see British Gas
- ScottishPower
- Shell Energy Retail
- So Energy
- Tomato Energy
- TruEnergy
- Utilita
- Utility Warehouse.
