Electricity Costs Must Drop to Unlock Climate Gains
Climate experts have urged the UK Government to reduce the cost of electricity, stressing that affordable energy is essential for people to adopt clean technology such as heat pumps and electric vehicles. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the country’s independent climate advisory body, released its annual progress report with a hopeful outlook, but made clear that meeting net-zero targets will depend on critical policy shifts. The focus keyword for this article is net-zero target.
Heat Pumps, EVs Lag Behind Despite Growing Momentum
While the CCC welcomed Labour’s recent push on climate policy, including removing planning barriers for renewables and reinstating the 2030 petrol and diesel vehicle sales ban, they warned that progress on the ground still lags.
Heat pump installations rose 56% in 2024, and electric vehicles (EVs) made up 19.6% of new car sales, thanks in part to previous subsidies and regulatory moves. But both are still underperforming relative to what is needed for the UK to hit its 2030 carbon budget. Without more aggressive action, including cutting the cost of electricity, adoption will slow.
Emma Pinchbeck, the CCC’s chief executive, explained the dilemma: “At the moment, a household with a heat pump pays £490 a year on policy costs alone. That’s far too high.”
UK Climate Goals Within Reach, But Cheaper Electricity Key to Clean Tech Shift [Credits: Photo by Pok Rie/Pexels]
Rebalancing Policy Costs Could Be a Win-Win
One major reason for expensive electricity is that the Government has loaded green policy costs, including subsidies for renewables and levies for fuel poverty reduction, onto electricity bills rather than gas.
The CCC suggested rebalancing these costs either by shifting them to gas bills (while shielding vulnerable consumers) or absorbing them through general taxation. Either way, lowering electricity costs is essential to allow clean technology to scale up.
“Electricity needs to be no more than three times more expensive than gas for clean tech to make financial sense,” Pinchbeck said. “Right now, it’s four times higher.”
She also argued the benefits go beyond individual households: “The economy benefits, because you can build and scale industries here cheaply. It is just sensible economic policy to have cheap fuel going into your economy.”
Tree Planting and Transport Emissions Show Promise
In more good news, the CCC noted that tree planting hit its highest level in two decades, with Scotland leading the way. The UK saw a 57% increase in new tree cover and a 47% rise in peatland restoration in 2024. These natural solutions are crucial for carbon storage and long-term emissions reduction.
Transport emissions, once a stubborn challenge, are beginning to fall thanks to the rising use of EVs and cleaner public transport initiatives. Still, more is needed to make this trend permanent.
The CCC reported that Scotland was leading the way in tree planting, which reached its highest level in 20 years. [Credits: Pixabay/Pexels]
Aviation Emissions Now Outstrip Electricity Sector
Alarmingly, emissions from aviation now exceed those from electricity generation. The CCC warned that the unchecked rise in flight emissions could jeopardise the net-zero target. To counter this, they floated controversial options like taxing frequent flyers, increasing flight levies, or pausing airport expansions.
Aviation’s climate impact, they argue, must be reflected in the cost of flying, a sentiment shared by many climate campaigners.
Net-Zero Within Reach — But Time is Short
The CCC’s chair, Professor Piers Forster, expressed optimism about the UK’s ability to meet its climate targets: “It is possible to meet our carbon budgets for 2030 and 2050, provided we take steps forward on policy.”
He stressed that reducing electricity costs was the single most important recommendation, both for households and businesses. “If we want the country to benefit from the transition to electrification, we have to see it reflected in utility bills,” he said.
The report revealed that greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.5% in 2024, the tenth consecutive year of reductions, not counting pandemic years, and that the UK has now slashed emissions by over 50% since 1990.
Public Buy-In Hinges on Cost
The CCC acknowledged that growing pushback against net-zero policies might be linked to a lack of visible benefits for ordinary people. Households must feel the financial upside of climate policy in their power bills, or public support may fade.
Consumer rights advocate Sue Davies from Which? echoed the need for affordability: “This must be done without adding to energy bills for households that currently rely on gas and struggle with the high cost of everyday living.”
Greenpeace UK’s Lily-Rose Ellis pushed for reform in how wholesale prices are set. “More renewables and a fairer energy market will give us genuine energy security, lower bills, and reduce planet-heating emissions,” she said.
Legal and Political Pressure Mounts
The Government must soon publish a legally mandated national plan on how it will meet its climate targets, after losing a case brought by Friends of the Earth. Their head of policy, Mike Childs, urged that the new plan “must ensure polluters–not hard-working people–are the ones picking up the tab.”
Meanwhile, the political landscape remains charged. Critics such as Reform Party leaders and Conservative figures like Kemi Badenoch continue to cast doubt on the feasibility of the net-zero target, labelling it “net stupid zero” and “impossible.” However, the CCC insists that net zero is not just possible, it’s economically advantageous in the long run.
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Conclusion
The UK has made meaningful progress toward its climate goals, with momentum growing under Labour’s leadership. But the path to a cleaner future depends heavily on making electricity affordable. Cutting policy costs from electricity bills could help unlock the full potential of clean tech, support the economy, and ensure the public reaps the benefits of climate action.
If the Government acts now, the net zero target for 2050 will be within reach — and with it, a cleaner, more prosperous future.
