![\"Nuclear](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nuclear-plant.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBritain could save \u00a3320billion over 20 years by ripping up current Net Zero electricity plans, keeping gas and building more nuclear power instead, a major new report claims.<\/p>\n
Household electricity bills could also fall four times further by 2035 under the alternative plan than under current policy.<\/p>\n
The radical blueprint would abandon Labour\u2019s Clean Power 2030 target and instead build Britain\u2019s electricity system around a mixture of nuclear, renewables and gas.<\/p>\n
It would also scrap carbon charges which make electricity produced from fossil fuels more expensive.<\/p>\n
The report was put together by Think Tank Onward (stock image)<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
Gas power stations currently have to pay for the carbon dioxide they produce. Those costs feed into the cost of generating electricity and, ultimately, can affect the price paid for power.<\/p>\n
The report, by Think Tank Onward, argues removing those charges, while retaining gas to provide reliable electricity when needed, would help dramatically cut the cost of the system.<\/p>\n
Using 2027 as its starting point, the study calculates annual household electricity bills would be around \u00a3200 lower by 2035 under its cheaper-power plan, compared with just \u00a350 lower under current policy.<\/p>\n
By 2050, bills would be around \u00a3300 lower than in 2027 under the alternative, compared with \u00a3130 lower under the existing approach.<\/p>\n
The report, The Case for Firm Power, delivers a direct challenge to Ed Miliband\u2019s argument that the Government\u2019s dash for renewable energy will ultimately deliver cheaper power.<\/p>\n
Researchers say Britain could make the huge savings while still producing around 80 per cent of its electricity from clean sources.<\/p>\n
Former Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho will use the findings to accuse Labour of trying to squeeze \u201cevery last drop of carbon\u201d out of Britain\u2019s electricity system regardless of the cost.<\/p>\n
She is expected to say: \u201cEd Miliband\u2019s Clean Power 2030 target is intent on squeezing every last drop of carbon out of our electricity no matter the cost.<\/p>\n
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS<\/p>\n
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Claire Coutinho praised the report<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
\u201cBut making electricity expensive puts electrification out of reach for ordinary families, and it\u2019s moving our industry to more polluting countries overseas – forcing us to import back those same goods with higher emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not improving the climate. It is madness – especially when electrification is a far bigger prize than perfectly clean electricity when it comes to reducing emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study compares the likely evolution of Britain\u2019s electricity system under current policy with an alternative which puts cheap and reliable power first.<\/p>\n
Between 2030 and 2050, researchers calculate the alternative would save \u00a3320billion in electricity system costs.<\/p>\n
The biggest saving would come from avoiding some of the vast expansion of Britain\u2019s electricity grid required under current plans.<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s strategy requires huge quantities of new renewable generation to be connected, including wind farms hundreds of miles from the homes, factories and businesses which ultimately use their electricity.<\/p>\n
Onward\u2019s alternative would instead build more nuclear and gas generation closer to existing grid infrastructure.<\/p>\n
It calculates that could cut \u00a3137billion from network costs over the 20 years.<\/p>\n
![\"Ed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ed-miliband.png\")
Ed Miliband was previously spearheading Britain’s Net Zero charge<\/p>\n
| PA<\/p>\n
Further savings would come from removing carbon charges and reducing the cost of balancing the grid – including occasions when generators can be paid to reduce output because electricity cannot be moved to where it is needed.<\/p>\n
The report comes amid growing concern over Britain\u2019s expensive electricity.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Britain had the highest industrial electricity prices among International Energy Agency member countries, according to the report, and the second-highest household prices, behind Germany.<\/p>\n
Since 2005, UK electricity prices have risen by more than 130 per cent in real terms while electricity consumption has fallen by 21 per cent.<\/p>\n
Ed Hezlet, Onward\u2019s head of energy, said: \u201cBritain has spent twenty years building an electricity system that is more expensive than almost any of our competitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cBills have more than doubled in real terms and consumption has collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Clean Power 2030 \u201cdoubles down on that mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means we pay to connect wind farms hundreds of miles from where power is needed, pay for backup systems for when wind doesn\u2019t blow and pay carbon taxes on top.<\/p>\n
\u201cHouseholds and businesses pick up most of this tab.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the heart of the report is a warning that Britain is losing reliable sources of electricity while becoming increasingly dependent on power which varies with the weather.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s \u201cfirm\u201d generating capacity – power which can be switched on when it is needed -has fallen by nearly 40 per cent since 2010.<\/p>\n
And 80 per cent of Britain\u2019s existing nuclear capacity is due to close by March 2030.<\/p>\n
Onward argues Britain should reverse that trend by building more nuclear and retaining gas-fired generation.<\/p>\n
Under its alternative plan, gas would still provide 23 per cent of Britain\u2019s electricity in 2050.<\/p>\n
Mr Hezlet said: \u201cThere is another way, a system built with more reliable generation in the mix – meaning nuclear, gas and renewables, closer to existing grid infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheap and reliable power is not the enemy of decarbonisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the cheaper system would come with an environmental price.<\/p>\n
Keeping gas would result in an additional 524 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted by 2050 compared with the current pathway.<\/p>\n
Onward argues, however, that eliminating those emissions under existing plans comes at an extraordinarily high price.<\/p>\n
It calculates the additional cost works out at more than \u00a3600 for every tonne of carbon dioxide removed – more than twice the highest carbon price used in Government modelling.<\/p>\n
Ms Coutinho said: \u201cThis is the most detailed costing of our electricity system that\u2019s ever been done by any think tank or the British Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt finishes the work I started in Government that Ed Miliband cancelled – a true costing of renewables which shows they are not cheaper when you take into account their full system cost.<\/p>\n
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Kemi Badenoch has called for a ‘serious plan to deal with climate change’<\/p>\n
| PA<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows we can save consumers a whopping \u00a3320billion on their energy bills over the next 20 years and still have electricity that is 80 per cent clean.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Conservatives argue the findings support their decision under Kemi Badenoch to abandon the UK\u2019s current Net Zero target.<\/p>\n
Ms Coutinho will say: \u201cRather than forcing people to do what we want, our job as politicians should be to lift the barriers in their way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we should focus all our attention on making electricity cheap, and then let consumer choice be king.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the speech, Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch said: \u201cBritain needs a serious plan to deal with climate change. Seriousness means looking at results, not simply setting targets and congratulating ourselves afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrent Net Zero targets have driven up energy costs, weakened our industrial base, and made us more dependent on energy imports, while doing too little to make the country more resilient to floods, droughts, and other consequences of the changing climate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report shows what a common sense approach looks like. Unlike Labour, who are wedded to the old failing plans; or Reform, who still don\u2019t believe climate change is happening, the Conservatives will protect our environment, protect our energy security and make energy cheaper. Our plan means using our own oil and gas in the North Sea, removing unnecessary costs from energy bills, and backing cheap, reliable, abundant energy for homes and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
But energy campaigners challenged the findings, warning that greater reliance on gas could leave Britain exposed to volatile international prices as North Sea reserves decline.<\/p>\n
Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, also questioned whether gas and nuclear would deliver the promised savings.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cCheaper power would help boost that further, reducing our oil and gas demand and so our vulnerability to the next energy crisis, but there\u2019s no guarantee that nuclear or gas would deliver cost reductions while we know that renewables lowered the wholesale price of electricity by a third last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government argues its clean-power programme will ultimately cut bills and protect Britain from volatile international gas prices.<\/p>\n
Labour accused the Tories of \u201cfollowing Reform\u2019s lead\u201d in their policy direction on oil and gas, which they said would \u201ctie Britain to the fossil fuel rollercoaster and keep bills higher for families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said: \u201cLabour is investing in more clean energy jobs, cutting tax on electricity bills to give families breathing space this winter and we\u2019re taking action to tackle the climate crisis and bring down bills for good. Kemi Badenoch would put jobs at risk and increase bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs global fossil fuel prices continue to rise amid conflict overseas and wildfires rage across the UK, we can\u2019t turn our back on clean power. That won\u2019t bring down bills and it won\u2019t address the climate crisis. The Tories don\u2019t have a clue.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government believes that the \u201cflawed\u201d proposals would leave the energy system more exposed to gas price volatility, with price spikes more likely. <\/p>\n
Ditching the carbon taxes could also lead to trade tariffs with Europe. <\/p>\n
The cost of building and operating a new gas station was higher than renewable sources of generation, its data shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain could save \u00a3320billion over 20 years by ripping up current Net Zero electricity plans, keeping gas and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[253,396,5,6],"class_list":["post-106383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-money","tag-net-zero","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117120298051560299","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}