Anger has erupted over plans to impose net zero penalties on household gas use in the UK. Ministers want to force the uptake of PS100—a green power-based alternative to fossil fuels—by introducing a new rule that could see household gas bills rise by up to £100 a year.
The new proposal, which was unveiled today, is a bid to encourage households to switch to a brand of heat pump called a heat pump.
Grant Shapps, the secretary of state for energy security, said the new rule would help the UK meet its net zero goals.
“If we want people to switch to an electricity-based economy, it would be better if [levies] were shifted onto the gas side of things,” he said. “It automatically makes the economics of an electric-driven economy better.”
Craig MacKinlay, the chair of the Conservative Net Zero Scrutiny Group, said he was angry at the move, calling it “hugely expensive” and “untried and unwanted.”
“If green levies are shifted from electricity to gas one wonders what will be achieved given that gas remains the mainstay and balancing source of electricity generation especially on cloudy, still days,” he said. “All green levies, interference taxes and manipulations should be removed across the energy market so that energy security can be restored.”
He added: “Further tinkering is not going to shift households to untried and unwanted heat pumps that are hugely expensive and rarely work well.”
