The leader of the Liberal Democrats has said investment in renewable power is the answer to keeping household bills down in light of the largest ever energy price cap increase.
Sir Ed Davey MP made the comments while visiting the site of a new solar farm at the former Elstow landfill site.
Planning permission for the solar panels to be installed at the site was given in November 2020.
Read: Thousands of solar panels could turn old Bedford landfill site into power plant
8,004 panels will cover six hectares of land and generate 4.2 megawatts of electricity.
Mr Davey’s visit, although pre-planned, comes at a time when rising energy costs are threatening to put millions of families in fuel poverty.
“The chancellor should be doing far more to help people now with their bills and the cost of living, and longer-term we need to invest far more in renewable power and insulate people’s homes,” he said.
Mr Davey congratulated Bedford’s Mayor Dave Hodgson on what he called a “hugely innovative” project to deliver “cheap, green, energy… which in the days of very high heating bills is fantastic.”
Rising energy bills
It was announced this week that millions of households are set to see their energy bills rise to an average of £1,971 a year due to rising wholesale gas prices.
This is 54% increase, approved by regulator Ofgem, will see customers who pay by direct debit having to stump up an extra £693 on average across variable gas and electricity tariffs.
The 4.5 million customers who use pay meters will see a typical increase of £708 to £2,017.
Following the announcement, the chancellor announced a £200 rebate on all energy bills that will then have to be repaid over five years.
Another rebate for those living in homes paying band A to D council tax rates will receive a further £150, which won’t need to be paid back.
But this scheme has been criticised for not helping those most in need.
Speaking to the BBC, Paul Johnson, director of the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies said, due to a combination of tax rises and inflation, said that the average earner was still likely to be £400 worse off than last year.
While the scheme will be costing the Government £9 billion, Mr Johnson added that more than half of the support package was “effectively a loan”.
Also speaking to the BBC, Mr Sunak defended his plan saying that the majority of families would receive a total of £350 to help them adjust to higher prices.
“I really believe that what we’re doing, £350, it’s a significant amount of money that will make a big difference to the vast majority of households, and I think people, I hope actually, will be reassured by us stepping in,” the chancellor said.
The Guardian has also reported that charities are gearing up to support millions of people who now face fuel poverty, many for the first time ever.
They report that several charities had warned that the chancellor his plan was badly targeted and offered too little support for those most in need.
The scale of the shock to low-income households would drive hunger, rent arrears, and ill health, and pile extra demand on to already stretched food banks and homeless shelters, they said.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank said cases of fuel stress, where energy bills in a household exceed 10% of disposable income, would double to 5 million in April despite the steps announced by Sunak on Thursday, reported The Guardian.
