Energy Costs - Facts v Misinformation

One of the frequent myths we hear is that investment in renewable energy projects is causing domestic energy bills to rocket. In a recent anti-wind farm meeting held locally two of the three speakers spoke of this; despite their anti-windfarm stance one acknowledged that the increase was approximately £15 per annum per customer, the other asserted that renewables were a prime reason for escalating home energy bills. As a responsible company we advice caution when hearing 'information' which is not backed up by properly referenced, peer reviewed data.
The following facts are backed up by clear empirical evidence.

• the annual cost of support for investment in renewables (the Renewables Obligation) was £1.1bn in 2009-10, meaning an additional £20 on the average customer bill. This contrasts with the £2bn annual cost of nuclear decommissioning.



• the cost of low carbon energy in the form of large-scale onshore wind output is £83 per megawatt hour (MWh), nuclear power £96-98/MWh, carbon capture and storage £105-158/MWh and run of river hydro £69/MWh
  


• onshore wind will be cost competitive with gas and coal generation by 2016 (Bloomberg report)

The full factsheet with referenced sources is available here.