Ted Newson is a researcher at the Global Warming Policy Foundation\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0On 14 January, the results of the latest offshore wind auction (AR7) were announced. <\/p>\n
The result? Massive 20-year contracts for wind energy at an inflated price. In 2025 prices, these new contracts guarantee \u00a395\/MWh despite the Climate Change Committee forecasting prices of \u00a335\/MWh<\/a> by 2040 \u2013 a period when we will still be paying for these contracts. As Clean Power 2030 gets closer, Ed Miliband appears increasingly desperate to reach it regardless of cost, leaving the billpayers on the hook for the lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) sells renewables as a method of lowering energy bills, increasing energy security, and working towards a greener future. The AR7 auction proves that this heavily taxpayer-subsidised energy is costly, likely to lock in stubbornly high bills for the foreseeable future, while ignoring the need for constant power sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0The proof is in the pudding: The Times expects this to add as much as \u00a31.8bn<\/a> to bills in the form of green levies. At the same time, without life-extension or replacement, we are expected to lose between 12 and 17 GW of reliable capacity<\/a> as gas and nuclear sites close. Although wind power can contribute to the grid, it doesn\u2019t have the same reliability as these sources, which are able to run regardless of weather conditions. While Miliband complains about the fluctuations in gas prices, he appears content to accept a grid built on a variable power supply, leaving businesses with uncertain supply and the UK increasingly reliant on electricity imports from overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0If you are worried about the future of Britain\u2019s energy grid, one useful exercise is to examine the current composition<\/a> of our power generation. As I write this, National Grid Live shows that 45.1 per cent of our current power generation comes from gas, with an additional 15.8 per cent from nuclear and biomass. Even while the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, only 31 per cent of power generation is through solar and wind. More worryingly, we are also importing 6.8 per cent of our supply from abroad, leaving us vulnerable to the risk of foreign states disrupting supply. At just over \u00a383\/MWh, the wholesale price of electricity is already much lower than new offshore wind contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Last December, carbon-related taxes made up almost 40 per cent<\/a> of the \u00a375.4\/MWh energy price. This should demonstrate that the easiest way of getting bills down significantly for consumers and businesses is to reduce carbon taxes. Instead, the government is selling the public a lie: that these inflated auctions for offshore wind will somehow make life easier for billpayers, despite energy prices in the UK being far higher<\/a> than in the US. What is commonly framed as a public investment in offshore wind, is more like a mortgage taken out against one\u2019s will.\u00a0 Miliband is locking energy bill-payers into a 20-year commitment to pay high and increasing index-linked prices for electricity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Britain currently suffers from an energy trilemma: politicians want to balance energy security, affordability, and environmental sustainability. Its current strategy doesn\u2019t adequately address any of these. If they want a coherent strategy for cheap industrial power and national security, the government needs to concede that they still require new gas developments to act as a reliable source of power while green firm power technology catches up. In rushing to decarbonise, Ed Miliband has opened the door to the potential of blackouts or full-scale grid failures, with a recent report<\/a> estimating a 65-85 per cent chance of regional electrical rationing and a 5-10 per cent chance of a full grid failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0While committing so much money and time to renewables, grid infrastructure must be given the same level of care. In 2025, the UK spent \u00a31.5bn<\/a> on paying wind farms to switch off their turbines due to grid constraints, a figure which Octopus expects to rise to \u00a38bn by 2030. By only doing one half of the job, DESNZ is tempting fate, potentially opening the grid to faults and deficiencies even on windy days. Their \u00a370bn commitment to upgrade the network by 2030 is an unnecessary burden on taxpayers that wouldn\u2019t be necessary if we protected our grid with new gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n