Starmer willing to scrap green target to cut bills – Daily Business

Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to scrap the 2030 fossil fuels target in order to bring down the cost of electricity.

With a general election to be held the year before and Reform UK breathing down his neck, the Prime Minister is said to be willing to drop a key pledge on green energy.

Speculation that this is now on the table prompted a furious reaction from green campaigners and will dismay those who are investing billions to hit the deadline.

Concern is growing in Downing Street that the cost of living is fuelling the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which leads in national polls and is predicted to take the Welsh Senedd seat of Caerphilly in a by-election this week.

According to The Guardian, which broke the story, Energy secretary Ed Miliband will buy less renewable power than experts say is needed to hit the 2030 target if paying for it would push energy bills much higher than their current levels.

Mr Miliband told an energy industry conference last week that “if specific technologies aren’t competitive, we will look elsewhere”.

Experts say that hitting the target would require a record 8 gigawatts of new electricity generation at the current auction round. The government sets subsidy levels by asking renewable companies to bid and then commissioning whichever projects promise the cheapest clean energy.

The energy secretary is said to be in talks with Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, about how much to spend on the commissioning round.

The talks come amid reports that the amount of electricity that needs to be commissioned is likely to push prices beyond what it would cost to build the equivalent amount of gas power.

Sir Keir is also under continuing pressure over his pre-election pledge to cut electricity bills by £300, only to see prices going up. By scrapping the targets it would enable prices to come back.

However, some sources say there will be no declaration, and that he is more likely to “simply miss the target rather than openly disown it”, given that he also made pledges on achieving net zero and turning the UK into a world leader in clean energy.

Industry experts say abandoning net zero would jeopardise, not only climage goals, but billions of investment and jobs that are promised.

The industry says the real pressure on the system comes from a lack of grid capacity which is also the reason wind turbines are switched off.

Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, Areeba Hamid, said:  “These rumours feel like déjà vu. Starmer folded like a deckchair over the £28bn green investment pledge last year. Another U-turn would be a complete dereliction of duty on climate action from the Prime Minister.

“Delivering clean power and lowering bills aren’t mutually exclusive. Investing in renewables will cut costs, boost energy security, and deliver stable, homegrown power for the long term.

“While that infrastructure is built, there are a raft of measures the government could use today to ease pressure on households – from ending gas’s grip on electricity prices by moving gas plants into a strategic reserve, to cutting VAT on energy bills, shifting levies into general taxation, and reducing seabed leasing costs for offshore wind.

“With COP30 around the corner, caving in on this flagship policy will shatter the UK’s credibility and is likely to have far-reaching consequences for global climate action.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government is fully committed to delivering clean power by 2030 because it is how we deliver a system that can bring down bills for consumers.”