Energy Bills 'To Fall By £50' Under Govt Plan

Plans to reduce the cost of soaring energy bills by an average £50 a year as a result of cuts in green levies have been confirmed by the Government.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg confirmed that funding of insulation and other efficiency techniques for vulnerable households was being reworked and would reduce the burden on consumers.

The cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme could be halved by giving power firms two years longer to hit targets, while other charges will be funded from general taxation in future.

Ministers are expected to fund a £300m plan for a £12 rebate on all household electricity bills and homebuyers are set to be handed £1,000 to spend on energy-saving measures.

The reductions are expected to be finalised in negotiations taking place with the Big Six power firms this weekend and full details of the deal are to be announced by George Osborne in his Autumn Statement on Thursday.

In a joint article for The Sun on Sunday, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg wrote: "Later this week, we'll announce further help: proposals that will be worth around £50 on average to energy bill-payers.

The two leaders insist the plan is 'serious and credible'

"We're doing it without taking any help away from poor families or sacrificing our green commitments; and in a way that will keep Britain's lights on in the long-term too."

The pair added: "Alongside the Green Deal, when you buy a new home, you could get up to £1,000 from Government to spend on important energy-saving measures - equivalent to half the stamp duty on the average house - or even more for particularly expensive measures.

"It's an all-round win: better insulation means cheaper bills; it's how we cut carbon emissions; and it will boost British businesses who provide these services."

Downing Street sources indicated the grants would be available for purchases of new-build or older housing stock, with the amount depending on the property's energy efficiency and how much work needs to be done.

EDF welcomed the move, and said it did not expect to raise prices again before 2015.

Bills are burned during a protest this month against prices and budget cuts

The intervention by Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg marks a concerted effort to regain the initiative on the energy issue, which has dominated the political agenda since Ed Miliband promised to freeze prices for 20 months if he wins the general election.

The coalition leaders accused Mr Miliband of "taking people for fools".

"Energy companies would hike up prices both before and after the freeze - so families would end up paying more," they wrote.

"Not only that - by cutting investment in green energy, their freeze would threaten thousands of jobs. Labour's con is the worst of all worlds. When an offer sounds too good to be true it usually is."

However, shadow chancellor Ed Balls accused the Government of "half measures and panicky climbdowns", insisting that "only a price freeze will do".

"After last year's Budget, Chancellor George Osborne was forced into chaotic U-turns on the pasty tax, the caravan tax and the charities tax," he wrote in the Sunday Mirror.

"This time the U-turns have started before he's even made his speech. With four days until the Autumn Statement, we've already had panicky changes in Government policy: on payday loans, cigarette packaging, energy subsidies and bank lending.

"On energy, the test for George Osborne is this: whatever he announces must both stop bills rising this winter and make the energy companies pay for it, not the taxpayer."

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