Labour was on Wednesday accused of ‘gaslighting the public’ over energy bills as it emerged they are likely to fall by far less than expected this spring.
Industry research firm Cornwall Insights predicted that the energy price cap will fall by £117 in April to the equivalent of £1,641 a year for a typical household.
But this is less than the £150 reduction promised by Rachel Reeves in the Budget in November, with many pointing to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s Net-Zero policies for keeping bills high.
And it makes a mockery of Labour’s election pledge to slash energy bills by £300.
In fact, bills will be £73 higher than they were when Labour was elected in July 2024 with the price cap at £1,568.
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: ‘Labour are gaslighting the public without even letting us have the gas.
‘In another broken pledge, energy bills have not fallen as Rachel Reeves promised and her tax rises on business have fed through to a more costly weekly shop.
‘No wonder Labour are about as popular as a measles outbreak in a playgroup.’
At her Budget in November last year, Rachel Reeves said £150 would be cut from the average household bill from April (pictured: The Chanellor last week)
Ed Miliband, pictured last year, is pushing ahead to decarbonise the country’s electricity grid by 2030. But critics have warned this is being done too quickly and runs the risk of consumers being left out of pocket
At her Budget in November last year, the Chancellor said £150 would be cut from the average household bill from April by scrapping a government energy efficiency scheme introduced by the Tories.
At the time, Ms Reeves said: ‘I can tell you today that for every family we are keeping our promise to get energy bills down with £150 cut from the average household bill from April next year. Money off bills and in the pockets of working people. That is my choice.’
But shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said this move was ‘just a sleight of hand which moves costs straight from your energy bill to your tax bill, and it doesn’t do anything to help businesses struggling with soaring energy bills’.
It came as analysts blamed Labour’s green policies for keeping energy bills high.
Kathryn Porter, founder of energy consultancy Watt Logic, added: ‘Policy and network costs are the main drivers of bills and they are almost entirely down to choices Labour is making.’
Labour plans to spend £90billion on net zero upgrades to the UK’s high-voltage transmission grid by 2031, as well as £22billion on a lower-voltage distribution network that delivers power from the transmission grid into buildings.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said it ‘won’t be easy’ to keep seeing bills falling due to the network upgrades.
He explained: ‘That investment is needed if we want an energy system that is more secure and resilient, after the consequences of exposure to global energy markets were made all too apparent in recent years.
‘However, there needs to be an open conversation about the fact that such a transition will not be cost‑free.’
Mr Miliband is pushing ahead with an ambition to decarbonise the country’s electricity grid by 2030.
But critics – including The Tony Blair Institute – have warned this is being done too quickly and runs the risk of consumers being left out of pocket.
