In this newsletter:
1) A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
2) Boris under pressure as Tory voters terrified they can’t afford energy bills
Daily Express, 10 January 2022
3) Small businesses struggle to survive soaring UK energy prices
Financial Times, 10 January 2022
7) UK’s biggest energy users ‘may put off net zero spending due to gas crisis’
The Independent, 10 January 2022
Financial Times, 10 January 2022
4) Senior Tories increase pressure on PM to head off pain of soaring energy bills and tax rises - or face backlash at polls
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
5) Scott Benton MP: As energy costs soar, we cannot balance environmentalism on the backs of the poor
Politics.co.uk, 10 January 2022
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
5) Scott Benton MP: As energy costs soar, we cannot balance environmentalism on the backs of the poor
Politics.co.uk, 10 January 2022
6) Prime Minister 'looking at' what can be done to help with rising energy bills
Sky News, 10 January 2022
Sky News, 10 January 2022
7) UK’s biggest energy users ‘may put off net zero spending due to gas crisis’
The Independent, 10 January 2022
8) German Covid funds redirected to boost green energy projects is 'constitutionally questionable'
Clean Energy Wire, 10 January 2022
Clean Energy Wire, 10 January 2022
9) US emissions and coal generation increased in 2021, threatening Biden's climate goals
The Washington Post, 10 January 2022
10) Editorial: Biden’s fuel afflictions
The Washington Times, 9 January 2022
11) Editorial: No climate warriors in frozen foxholes
The Wall Street Journal, 10 January 2022
Full details:
1) A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
Boris Johnson today said he is 'constantly' meeting with Rishi Sunak to hammer out solutions to the cost of living crisis as he hinted the Government is on the verge of taking action.
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
Boris Johnson today said he is 'constantly' meeting with Rishi Sunak to hammer out solutions to the cost of living crisis as he hinted the Government is on the verge of taking action.
The Prime Minister revealed during a visit to a vaccination centre in Uxbridge this morning that he met with the Chancellor last night to discuss soaring energy bills.
Mr Johnson said he knows that rising bills are 'making life very tough' and he understands 'how difficult it is' for people.
The premier said 'we're certainly looking at what we can do' as he hinted action will be taken on bills before April when the energy price cap is due to be reviewed and a National Insurance hike will go ahead.
The comments came after Michael Gove said Government support on energy bills should be targeted at 'those most in need'.
The Communities Secretary said it is 'important that we look at a range of options' for helping struggling families but stressed 'we should be concentrating our support most on those with the least income'.
A new poll has revealed one third of Britons fear they will be unable to pay their energy bills this year.
A YouGov survey published by The Times found 33 per cent of people expect their fuel bills to become unaffordable in 2022.
Meanwhile, 86 per cent are braced for the cost of living to increase and two thirds (67 per cent) are personally worried about rising prices.
Tory MPs are demanding Mr Johnson take action now to tackle rising energy bills and spiking inflation as he also faces calls to scrap the planned increase in National Insurance.
The Prime Minister is expected to hold further talks with Mr Sunak and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this week.
There are fears inside Whitehall that elevated wholesale energy prices could last for a lengthy period of time and there will be pressure on the Government to keep in place any new help until there is a dip.
The Treasury is therefore taking a cautious approach to agreeing new support as it seeks to avoid an expensive long-term commitment.
Senior Tories have warned Mr Johnson he will be punished at the ballot box unless he remedies the cost of living crisis.
Full story
2) Boris under pressure as Tory voters terrified they can’t afford energy bills
Daily Express, 10 January 2022
TORY voters are terrified that energy bills will become unaffordable, according to a survey that has put pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to protect Britons from the energy crisis.
This comes after it was announced that energy bills could rise by at least another 50 percent, to as much as £2,000 a year on April 1 for an average household paying by direct debit. This represents a new energy price cap, the maximum tariff an energy supplier can charge customers. Now, large swathes of voters are terrified that they won’t be able to cope with the soaring costs.
A YouGov survey of 1,744 adults on Thursday and Friday suggested that 86 per cent expected their cost of living to increase this year.
This rose to more than 90 percent among Conservative voters.
And 67 percent of voters said they were worried about rising prices.
Up to 59 percent backed using tax revenue to limit the rise in gas and electricity bills expected when the energy price cap is reviewed in April.
And this rose to 66 percent for Tory voters, who seemed to prefer taxpayer subsidies compared to Labour voters, driven by strong support among the over-65s.
And worryingly for the Government, 33 percent said they expected their fuel bills “to increase by more than I can afford in the year ahead”.
Mr Johnson has been urged to step in to protect households from skyrocketing prices.
He is due to hold talks with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, to discuss measures.
One suggested measure has been to scrap VAT on energy bills, a policy introduced by the EU back in the 1990s.
But the Prime Minister has said that this measure won’t be an effective mechanism to protect Britons, despite promising during the 2016 Brexit referendum that Britain could get rid of the Brussels-imposed policy.
Another measure would be involved scrapping the green levy charged on energy bills.
Tory MP John Penrose has said that neither of these measures would work.
That is because, he claims, Vladimir Putin’s energy squeeze on Europe is ramping up energy bills for millions of Britons.
He told GB News: “The major change in what is going on with our energy bills isn't being driven by VAT or green levies or these sorts of things.
“They are a factor, yes. But the really big change, the thing that is driving the pain for all of us and is going to get worse over the next couple of months is the increasing international price of gas.”
10) Editorial: Biden’s fuel afflictions
The Washington Times, 9 January 2022
The new year forecasts relentless gasoline pains
That government existing to better the lives of its citizens is self-evident. Happiness can be an elusive pursuit, of course, and leaders are no less likely to zig when they should have zagged than the imperfect folks who choose them. Americans give their chief executive four years to discover the path to betterment, but their patience quickly wears thin when the trouble is intentional. President Biden has launched a flotilla of hardships during his first year in office, but few as harmful as the breakneck surge in fuel prices.
The 230 million Americans who drive spent the past year cringing at the sight of gas station signs flashing an average price of $3.02 per gallon. Fuel price analysts at Gas Buddy warn the worst is yet to come. In 2022, the average is forecast to bolt higher to $3.41 and could reach $4 a gallon by spring. With prices currently hovering around $3.29 nationwide and with trend-setting California already cracking through the stratospheric level of $4.66, the possibility is looking extremely likely.
The extra dollar a gallon hike over a year ago is on course to pilfer consumers’ pockets for an extra $80 billion, raising the nation’s gas bill to nearly $485 billion during 2022. Some happy new year.
In December, when prices were slightly less jaw-dropping, the Pew Research Center pointed out that the nation has endured a long history of gas price spikes. For example, the $4.11 Americans paid for gas in 2008 would have cost $5.20 in today’s dollars.
It is a painful reminder rendered all the more maddening by the realization that by electing Mr. Biden, voters made the fateful decision to rehire the Obama cadre who made those gas prices good and high, including then-Vice President Biden himself.
Viewing the turn of events as simply misfortune is to ignore the deliberate steps Mr. Biden has taken to instigate the price surge: The president canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, which, incidentally, triggered a lawsuit from the project builder seeking $15 billion in damages. Promising as a candidate “no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period,” he ordered a temporary halt of oil and gas drilling permits on government property.
Thankfully, a federal court blocked the executive order, but the energy industry heard the message: Fossil fuels are to be phased out. Choosing not to throw good money after bad, companies have responded to the 2020 pandemic energy-use slowdown by opting out of renewed drilling operations. Consequently, active wells across the nation totaled 991 in September — down from the pre-pandemic 2019 average of 1,253, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Willfully squeezing-off fossil fuels threatens the well-being of the nation. The president’s 43% approval rating quantifies his abysmal leadership. A year on, Americans are starting to roll up their sleeves — not for vaccinations — but to throw Team Biden out of office.
11) Editorial: No climate warriors in frozen foxholes
The Wall Street Journal, 10 January 2022
The climate warriors of the Democratic Party aren’t lacking for chutzpah, give them that.
The latest example is a letter from 41 Members of Congress to federal regulators, fretting about “the effect that anticipated increases in heating and energy costs will have on our constituents this winter.” You don’t say?
The letter’s signers include Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the House progressive caucus. This gaggle of greens normally thinks oil is drilled straight from hell, but they’re now asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to exercise its “power to influence retail rates for natural gas and electricity.”
Naturally, their theory is that higher costs are a result of “market manipulation,” “profiteering,” and “high oil and gas exports.” Maybe they should read—OK, their staffs should read—the underlying document cited by their own letter. “We expect households that use natural gas as their primary space heating fuel,” the Energy Information Administration says, “will spend $746 this winter, 30% more than they spent last winter.”
Part of that is a forecast for colder weather, but there’s also basic economics. “The main reason wholesale prices of natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products have risen,” the EIA says, “is that fuel demand has increased from recent lows faster than production.”
The report cites record exports of liquefied natural gas, but selling energy to American allies should be counted as a win, both economically and strategically, since it reduces the leverage of players like Vladimir Putin. The U.S. has enough gas to go around, and abundance is the ultimate fix for high prices.
But President Biden, encouraged by the signers of this letter, has made clear that U.S. fossil-fuel production must be phased out. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the PennEast Pipeline were both canceled even after beating opponents at the Supreme Court. Getting gas to Mr. Markey and Ms. Warren’s Massachusetts is so difficult that sometimes it comes into Boston Harbor on a tanker from Russia. And they wonder why heating prices are high.
Mr Johnson said he knows that rising bills are 'making life very tough' and he understands 'how difficult it is' for people.
The premier said 'we're certainly looking at what we can do' as he hinted action will be taken on bills before April when the energy price cap is due to be reviewed and a National Insurance hike will go ahead.
The comments came after Michael Gove said Government support on energy bills should be targeted at 'those most in need'.
The Communities Secretary said it is 'important that we look at a range of options' for helping struggling families but stressed 'we should be concentrating our support most on those with the least income'.
A new poll has revealed one third of Britons fear they will be unable to pay their energy bills this year.
A YouGov survey published by The Times found 33 per cent of people expect their fuel bills to become unaffordable in 2022.
Meanwhile, 86 per cent are braced for the cost of living to increase and two thirds (67 per cent) are personally worried about rising prices.
Tory MPs are demanding Mr Johnson take action now to tackle rising energy bills and spiking inflation as he also faces calls to scrap the planned increase in National Insurance.
The Prime Minister is expected to hold further talks with Mr Sunak and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this week.
There are fears inside Whitehall that elevated wholesale energy prices could last for a lengthy period of time and there will be pressure on the Government to keep in place any new help until there is a dip.
The Treasury is therefore taking a cautious approach to agreeing new support as it seeks to avoid an expensive long-term commitment.
Senior Tories have warned Mr Johnson he will be punished at the ballot box unless he remedies the cost of living crisis.
Full story
2) Boris under pressure as Tory voters terrified they can’t afford energy bills
Daily Express, 10 January 2022
TORY voters are terrified that energy bills will become unaffordable, according to a survey that has put pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to protect Britons from the energy crisis.
This comes after it was announced that energy bills could rise by at least another 50 percent, to as much as £2,000 a year on April 1 for an average household paying by direct debit. This represents a new energy price cap, the maximum tariff an energy supplier can charge customers. Now, large swathes of voters are terrified that they won’t be able to cope with the soaring costs.
A YouGov survey of 1,744 adults on Thursday and Friday suggested that 86 per cent expected their cost of living to increase this year.
This rose to more than 90 percent among Conservative voters.
And 67 percent of voters said they were worried about rising prices.
Up to 59 percent backed using tax revenue to limit the rise in gas and electricity bills expected when the energy price cap is reviewed in April.
And this rose to 66 percent for Tory voters, who seemed to prefer taxpayer subsidies compared to Labour voters, driven by strong support among the over-65s.
And worryingly for the Government, 33 percent said they expected their fuel bills “to increase by more than I can afford in the year ahead”.
Mr Johnson has been urged to step in to protect households from skyrocketing prices.
He is due to hold talks with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, to discuss measures.
One suggested measure has been to scrap VAT on energy bills, a policy introduced by the EU back in the 1990s.
But the Prime Minister has said that this measure won’t be an effective mechanism to protect Britons, despite promising during the 2016 Brexit referendum that Britain could get rid of the Brussels-imposed policy.
Another measure would be involved scrapping the green levy charged on energy bills.
Tory MP John Penrose has said that neither of these measures would work.
That is because, he claims, Vladimir Putin’s energy squeeze on Europe is ramping up energy bills for millions of Britons.
He told GB News: “The major change in what is going on with our energy bills isn't being driven by VAT or green levies or these sorts of things.
“They are a factor, yes. But the really big change, the thing that is driving the pain for all of us and is going to get worse over the next couple of months is the increasing international price of gas.”
3) Small businesses struggle to survive soaring UK energy prices
Financial Times, 10 January 2022
Companies say they need government protection from jump in power costs as industry body warns many will ‘give up’
Financial Times, 10 January 2022
Companies say they need government protection from jump in power costs as industry body warns many will ‘give up’
Having survived the financial hardship triggered by the pandemic, Sadie Shard, owner of the Crescent Hotel in Scarborough, is now faced with another risk to her business: sky-high energy prices.
Shard has owned the hotel in the northern English coastal town since 2014 and until November had been paying £1,000-£2,000 a month to power its 20 guestrooms and restaurant.
But in November her supplier, CNG, went bust shortly before her latest energy deal was up for renewal. The company appointed by the regulator, Ofgem, to take on CNG’s customers said her electricity tariff would increase more than fivefold, reflecting surges in wholesale prices. This would have meant her energy bill jumping to as much as £10,000 a month.
CNG, which had 41,000 business customers, is among 26 suppliers that have gone to the wall in the past five months as surging wholesale gas and power prices have triggered the biggest crisis in Britain’s energy supply sector in 20 years.
For months the government has been subjected to high-profile lobbying by the “energy-intensive industries” such as ceramics and steel, which have warned of potential shutdowns if ministers do not intervene — only to be stonewalled by the Treasury.
Now small businesses such as Shard’s, of which there are about 5.5m in the UK, are also sounding the alarm over spiralling energy costs at a time when many of them are still reeling from the pandemic.
Shard has managed to negotiate her tariff down slightly — although it remains more than four times what it was under her previous deal. She says the overnight increase in her energy costs is the “icing on the cake” after all the difficulties hospitality businesses have been through in the past two years of pandemic restrictions.
“We are in a position now where our [monthly] energy bill is essentially the same as our restaurant takings [every month] which is not feasible unless something changes,” said Shard. “It would be ironic if we survived Covid . . . and it was the energy bills that pushed us under.”
In the Federation of Small Businesses’ latest quarterly survey, 45 per cent of the nearly 1,300 firms that participated said their costs had increased in the past three months because of rising utility bills, driven by the price of energy.
“The picture we’re seeing is that unplanned-for bill increases are hitting firms when they’re already up against other major headwinds — supply chain disruption, inflation heading for 6 per cent, increasing late payment from large business customers, and the biggest tax increase in small business history coming in April,” said Craig Beaumont, the industry body’s chief of external affairs.
He fears this additional pressure will force many small firms to slash costs, let go of staff or “give up altogether”.
There is particular concern about the very smallest businesses with fewer than 10 employees, which don’t have the energy management teams or trading arms of larger corporates. They may not even have an office manager to help them shop around for a better deal.
These “micro businesses”, of which there are an estimated 1.2m in the UK, employing 4.2m people, also have fewer protections over their energy purchasing than households. For example, Britain’s energy price cap does not apply to them.
The cap, introduced in 2019, is adjusted twice a year in October and April, meaning many of the steepest rises in wholesale gas and electricity prices in the past few months will not hit households until the spring, when bills tend to decline as heating demands reduce.
Businesses generally have bespoke contracts with suppliers that can expire at any point in the year. However, a large number of deals come to an end on April 1 and October 1, one big energy supplier told the Financial Times.
“April will be the next big crunch time to see business falling off low contract prices on to high renewal rates,” the supplier said.
Britain’s fourth biggest energy supplier, EDF Energy, said fortunately many businesses were still on multiyear deals but it was “concerned” for those that are due to renew their contracts in coming months.
The government has been looking at ways to mitigate the spiralling energy costs. Kwasi Kwarteng, business secretary, has been holding talks with suppliers and Ofgem over ways to soften the blow of high energy prices for households in April. The consumer price cap is forecast to rise by about £700 to £2,000 a year from that month, unless mitigations can be agreed.
Kwarteng also last year agreed a short-term bailout of Britain’s biggest producer of carbon dioxide following concerns that its closure due to escalating energy costs could lead to chaos in critical industries that rely on the gas, including meat and health.
Small business owners argue that they also need help from ministers. The FSB has added its voice to a growing chorus of energy companies and politicians pushing for a cut in the 5 per cent rate of value added tax on energy bills. But it would also like to see other measures such as a portion of a “redress fund” overseen by Ofgem to be made available for microbusinesses in trouble because of high energy costs, plus an energy price cap for the very smallest firms.
Back in Scarborough, Shard says she is trying to remain positive after an already “tricky” couple of years. “We are just trying to take every day as it comes and plough forward,” she said.
6) Prime Minister 'looking at' what can be done to help with rising energy bills
Sky News, 10 January 2022
Boris Johnson has confirmed he is "looking at" what his government can do to reduce the cost of household energy bills amid soaring prices.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to a pharmacy in Uxbridge on Monday, the PM said he had discussed cost of living pressures with Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Sunday night and believes ministers have "got to help people, particularly on low incomes".
It comes after Labour proposed removing VAT on bills for a year and a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers as part of a package designed to save households hundreds of pounds on their energy costs.
A £6.6bn plan unveiled by the party this weekend would also see the party expand and increase the warm home discount for those most at risk.
Labour says the package of support would save most households around £200, while targeted support to those on lower incomes, pensioners and the squeezed middle would mean they save as much as £600.
The warm home discount scheme is a one-off £140 rebate on energy bills given to two million people in England and Wales - one million people on pension credit and one million families on working age benefits.
The government already plans to expand to around three million people this year - and increase the rebate to £150.
7) UK’s biggest energy users ‘may put off net zero spending due to gas crisis’
The Independent, 10 January 2022
Eight in 10 of the UK’s biggest energy users have said they are worried by rapid rises in energy prices and many are worried it could put their environmental investments at risk.
Intensive energy users largely have plans to cut their carbon emissions, according to a new survey.
Energy giant Vattenfall said that 90% of the companies said they planned to invest more than 7% of their revenues on reaching net zero over the next half decade.
But more than a third said they are thinking about calling off some investments so they can deal with the gas price crisis.
The decisions they (companies) make now will make or break their plans to tackle climate change
The price of gas has multiplied several times compared to a year ago. It is due in part to high demand from China low wind speeds in Europe and restricted supply.
It is likely to cause energy bills to increase by around 50% for most British households from the beginning of April when the new price cap is set.
But the crisis is also hitting businesses around the world, especially those in sectors that burn a lot of gas, including manufacturers.
“Businesses across the UK are clearly alive to the need to tackle climate change and reach net zero,” said Vattenfall Networks managing director Stewart Dawson.
“But without the right investment in their networks and systems, plans to switch to electric vehicles and increase their self-generation will have to be shelved if their networks can’t cope.
“The decisions they make now will make or break their plans to tackle climate change. We need to make it easier for businesses to gain access to the advice and support to show the options available to them to reach net zero in the most affordable way possible.”
The survey asked more than 500 senior decision makers in the UK what their plans are.
Investments that they might abandon could include improving energy efficiency, installing chargers for electric cars and buying solar panels for roofs.
Shard has owned the hotel in the northern English coastal town since 2014 and until November had been paying £1,000-£2,000 a month to power its 20 guestrooms and restaurant.
But in November her supplier, CNG, went bust shortly before her latest energy deal was up for renewal. The company appointed by the regulator, Ofgem, to take on CNG’s customers said her electricity tariff would increase more than fivefold, reflecting surges in wholesale prices. This would have meant her energy bill jumping to as much as £10,000 a month.
CNG, which had 41,000 business customers, is among 26 suppliers that have gone to the wall in the past five months as surging wholesale gas and power prices have triggered the biggest crisis in Britain’s energy supply sector in 20 years.
For months the government has been subjected to high-profile lobbying by the “energy-intensive industries” such as ceramics and steel, which have warned of potential shutdowns if ministers do not intervene — only to be stonewalled by the Treasury.
Now small businesses such as Shard’s, of which there are about 5.5m in the UK, are also sounding the alarm over spiralling energy costs at a time when many of them are still reeling from the pandemic.
Shard has managed to negotiate her tariff down slightly — although it remains more than four times what it was under her previous deal. She says the overnight increase in her energy costs is the “icing on the cake” after all the difficulties hospitality businesses have been through in the past two years of pandemic restrictions.
“We are in a position now where our [monthly] energy bill is essentially the same as our restaurant takings [every month] which is not feasible unless something changes,” said Shard. “It would be ironic if we survived Covid . . . and it was the energy bills that pushed us under.”
In the Federation of Small Businesses’ latest quarterly survey, 45 per cent of the nearly 1,300 firms that participated said their costs had increased in the past three months because of rising utility bills, driven by the price of energy.
“The picture we’re seeing is that unplanned-for bill increases are hitting firms when they’re already up against other major headwinds — supply chain disruption, inflation heading for 6 per cent, increasing late payment from large business customers, and the biggest tax increase in small business history coming in April,” said Craig Beaumont, the industry body’s chief of external affairs.
He fears this additional pressure will force many small firms to slash costs, let go of staff or “give up altogether”.
There is particular concern about the very smallest businesses with fewer than 10 employees, which don’t have the energy management teams or trading arms of larger corporates. They may not even have an office manager to help them shop around for a better deal.
These “micro businesses”, of which there are an estimated 1.2m in the UK, employing 4.2m people, also have fewer protections over their energy purchasing than households. For example, Britain’s energy price cap does not apply to them.
The cap, introduced in 2019, is adjusted twice a year in October and April, meaning many of the steepest rises in wholesale gas and electricity prices in the past few months will not hit households until the spring, when bills tend to decline as heating demands reduce.
Businesses generally have bespoke contracts with suppliers that can expire at any point in the year. However, a large number of deals come to an end on April 1 and October 1, one big energy supplier told the Financial Times.
“April will be the next big crunch time to see business falling off low contract prices on to high renewal rates,” the supplier said.
Britain’s fourth biggest energy supplier, EDF Energy, said fortunately many businesses were still on multiyear deals but it was “concerned” for those that are due to renew their contracts in coming months.
The government has been looking at ways to mitigate the spiralling energy costs. Kwasi Kwarteng, business secretary, has been holding talks with suppliers and Ofgem over ways to soften the blow of high energy prices for households in April. The consumer price cap is forecast to rise by about £700 to £2,000 a year from that month, unless mitigations can be agreed.
Kwarteng also last year agreed a short-term bailout of Britain’s biggest producer of carbon dioxide following concerns that its closure due to escalating energy costs could lead to chaos in critical industries that rely on the gas, including meat and health.
Small business owners argue that they also need help from ministers. The FSB has added its voice to a growing chorus of energy companies and politicians pushing for a cut in the 5 per cent rate of value added tax on energy bills. But it would also like to see other measures such as a portion of a “redress fund” overseen by Ofgem to be made available for microbusinesses in trouble because of high energy costs, plus an energy price cap for the very smallest firms.
Back in Scarborough, Shard says she is trying to remain positive after an already “tricky” couple of years. “We are just trying to take every day as it comes and plough forward,” she said.
4) Senior Tories increase pressure on PM to head off pain of soaring energy bills and tax rises - or face backlash at polls
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
Senior Tories last night warned Boris Johnson he will be punished at the polls unless he acts to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
Senior Tories last night warned Boris Johnson he will be punished at the polls unless he acts to tackle the cost of living crisis.
The Prime Minister will hold talks with his Chancellor this week amid a devastating squeeze on living standards, driven by soaring energy bills, rampant inflation and controversial tax rises.
Three select committee chairmen last night told the Daily Mail that failure to take decisive action could see support for the Conservatives collapse.
Their interventions came after Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, told The Mail on Sunday that the PM risks losing the next election unless he returns to Tory values of 'free markets, free debate and low taxes'.
One senior Conservative said yesterday: 'People are p***** off about parties in No 10 now but it will pass. What won't pass is the anger people will feel when, far from being levelled up, they find their standard of living has been levelled down.'
Labour has unveiled its own proposals for tackling energy price rises, which include scrapping VAT on bills and introducing a windfall tax on North Sea oil producers. It claims the measures would save the average family £200, rising to £600 for those on low incomes.
'What's worrying is that Labour have got it – they have been raising this issue week in, week out for months, while we are nowhere,' the senior Tory said yesterday, warning that failure to 'get a grip' will mean 'potential disaster' at the polls.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi stressed yesterday that £4billion of targeted support had already been put in place this winter, including means-tested energy bill discounts and help for those on Universal Credit.
Despite this, millions of families on modest incomes face bearing the brunt themselves. A Whitehall source said the PM and Rishi Sunak were 'nowhere near' agreeing a solution.
Julian Knight, chairman of the Commons culture committee, said last night: 'Boris needs to wake up and listen to his party on energy and set a clear path out of the cost of living crisis. In the short-term, he needs to abolish the VAT on energy bills and get rid of the green taxes.'
Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, described the cost of living as the 'number one issue facing the Prime Minister'.
The former minister said: 'People voted for Boris because they believed their financial security and prosperity would be better – he has got to make it happen.'
He also called for the removal of VAT and green levies on energy bills, adding: 'That would take hundreds of pounds off bills. No one is saying the environment is not important, but you can't tackle it on the backs of families who can't afford to heat their homes.'
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence committee, said: 'It's now becoming a totemic domestic issue on how we are handling the economy and the Government is very conscious of this.
'I hope the Chancellor will... provide both temporary and long-term solutions to both the cost and security of energy supply.'
The Bank of England expects inflation to hit 6 per cent by spring, while analysts have warned that the energy bill price cap could jump by more than £700 in April due to soaring global prices.
Full story
Three select committee chairmen last night told the Daily Mail that failure to take decisive action could see support for the Conservatives collapse.
Their interventions came after Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, told The Mail on Sunday that the PM risks losing the next election unless he returns to Tory values of 'free markets, free debate and low taxes'.
One senior Conservative said yesterday: 'People are p***** off about parties in No 10 now but it will pass. What won't pass is the anger people will feel when, far from being levelled up, they find their standard of living has been levelled down.'
Labour has unveiled its own proposals for tackling energy price rises, which include scrapping VAT on bills and introducing a windfall tax on North Sea oil producers. It claims the measures would save the average family £200, rising to £600 for those on low incomes.
'What's worrying is that Labour have got it – they have been raising this issue week in, week out for months, while we are nowhere,' the senior Tory said yesterday, warning that failure to 'get a grip' will mean 'potential disaster' at the polls.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi stressed yesterday that £4billion of targeted support had already been put in place this winter, including means-tested energy bill discounts and help for those on Universal Credit.
Despite this, millions of families on modest incomes face bearing the brunt themselves. A Whitehall source said the PM and Rishi Sunak were 'nowhere near' agreeing a solution.
Julian Knight, chairman of the Commons culture committee, said last night: 'Boris needs to wake up and listen to his party on energy and set a clear path out of the cost of living crisis. In the short-term, he needs to abolish the VAT on energy bills and get rid of the green taxes.'
Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, described the cost of living as the 'number one issue facing the Prime Minister'.
The former minister said: 'People voted for Boris because they believed their financial security and prosperity would be better – he has got to make it happen.'
He also called for the removal of VAT and green levies on energy bills, adding: 'That would take hundreds of pounds off bills. No one is saying the environment is not important, but you can't tackle it on the backs of families who can't afford to heat their homes.'
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence committee, said: 'It's now becoming a totemic domestic issue on how we are handling the economy and the Government is very conscious of this.
'I hope the Chancellor will... provide both temporary and long-term solutions to both the cost and security of energy supply.'
The Bank of England expects inflation to hit 6 per cent by spring, while analysts have warned that the energy bill price cap could jump by more than £700 in April due to soaring global prices.
Full story
5) Scott Benton MP: As energy costs soar, we cannot balance environmentalism on the backs of the poor
Politics.co.uk, 10 January 2022
It is imperative that the government doesn’t become blinded by green ideology in retaining these levies in the midst of millions of working people being plunged into fuel poverty.
Politics.co.uk, 10 January 2022
It is imperative that the government doesn’t become blinded by green ideology in retaining these levies in the midst of millions of working people being plunged into fuel poverty.
The 2019 General Election realigned politics as working class voters in places like my constituency, Blackpool South, backed Boris and the Tories in record numbers.
Whilst this was mainly attributed to Brexit and a dislike of the woke and metropolitan values which the Labour Party had come to symbolize, lifelong Labour voters who switched to the Conservatives were undoubtedly put at ease by a party who was promising to ‘level-up’ and spend record sums on the public services upon which they depended. There was a distinct feeling that the Tory Party of Boris was different and was genuinely on the side of working people in places such as Blackpool, Bolsover and Burney.
Two years since the election, and the view of those former Labour voters towards their old party hasn’t changed. This explains why despite the pandemic and a number of government mishaps, Labour aren’t 25 points ahead in the polls as one might expect. My constituents generally think that the government has done a pretty good job in handling the pandemic, and the vast sums of money which were spent on supporting people’s jobs and businesses, and keeping the NHS afloat, has bought the government some time.
However, there are monumental challenges ahead. Not just managing the pandemic or the NHS, keeping the economy on track or finally rebooting ‘levelling up’, but more imminently, the impending cost of living crisis.
By many standards, my constituency is the poorest in England. Unemployment is double the national average and the majority of those in work are in receipt of benefits. People in Blackpool are already struggling to manage the household budget but with nearly all consumer goods and foods rising in price, and the expected increases in National Insurance and Council Tax also set to kick in, working people are facing a tsunami of rising prices. Factor in the expected £600 rise in fuel costs for the average family and people’s budgets will be stretched beyond breaking point in many circumstances.
If the government is going to maintain the trust and support of those new converts from Labour, and truly demonstrate that it is ‘on their side’, it must act quickly. Although we are already doing a great deal to help working families (raising the income tax threshold for low earners; the Universal Credit taper rate changes; increases in the National Living Wage; and freezing fuel duty, for example) people are facing unprecedented pressure on their household budgets and we must go further, and fast.
One blindly obvious solution to help people with the expected rise in fuel costs from April would be to scrap VAT and the so-called ‘green levies’ on bills. Collectively these make up around 25% of the average fuel bill and scrapping them would save the average household somewhere in the region of £250 pounds per year. Whilst this wouldn’t fully protect consumers against the expected £600 rise, it would go an awful long way towards helping families in the short-term.
It is imperative that the government doesn’t become blinded by green ideology in retaining these levies in the midst of millions of working people being plunged into fuel poverty. If there is one single thing which would demonstrate my Party being out of touch with working people it would be this.
In short, you can’t balance environmentalism on the backs of the poor who are struggling to keep the heating on. In any case, the green levy is spend on some very dubious projects: not least, a £1 billion subsidy to a power station burning wood chip pellets. Doesn’t sound very green does it?
Whilst cutting VAT and green levies would be a helpful short term measure it does not of course solve our energy crisis. Governments of both colours have hopelessly mismanaged our energy policy for decades. A reluctance to properly pursue nuclear energy and a reliance on fair weather green power has brought us to the point where we are dangerously reliant on the whims of a geo-political foe in Russia.
Our long term energy security surely necessitates expanding North Sea exploration and looking again at shale gas where appropriate. Whilst this may be unpalatable to some, the alternative of huge price volatility, the enormous costs to our economy, and working people suffering in cold homes is simply not an option.
Working class voters in red wall seats, like Blackpool South, will decide the outcome of the next election. The test will be whether people feel that the government is truly on the side of people such as them. That’s why the government can’t afford to get decisions such as this wrong.
Scott Benton is the Conservative MP for Blackpool South
Whilst this was mainly attributed to Brexit and a dislike of the woke and metropolitan values which the Labour Party had come to symbolize, lifelong Labour voters who switched to the Conservatives were undoubtedly put at ease by a party who was promising to ‘level-up’ and spend record sums on the public services upon which they depended. There was a distinct feeling that the Tory Party of Boris was different and was genuinely on the side of working people in places such as Blackpool, Bolsover and Burney.
Two years since the election, and the view of those former Labour voters towards their old party hasn’t changed. This explains why despite the pandemic and a number of government mishaps, Labour aren’t 25 points ahead in the polls as one might expect. My constituents generally think that the government has done a pretty good job in handling the pandemic, and the vast sums of money which were spent on supporting people’s jobs and businesses, and keeping the NHS afloat, has bought the government some time.
However, there are monumental challenges ahead. Not just managing the pandemic or the NHS, keeping the economy on track or finally rebooting ‘levelling up’, but more imminently, the impending cost of living crisis.
By many standards, my constituency is the poorest in England. Unemployment is double the national average and the majority of those in work are in receipt of benefits. People in Blackpool are already struggling to manage the household budget but with nearly all consumer goods and foods rising in price, and the expected increases in National Insurance and Council Tax also set to kick in, working people are facing a tsunami of rising prices. Factor in the expected £600 rise in fuel costs for the average family and people’s budgets will be stretched beyond breaking point in many circumstances.
If the government is going to maintain the trust and support of those new converts from Labour, and truly demonstrate that it is ‘on their side’, it must act quickly. Although we are already doing a great deal to help working families (raising the income tax threshold for low earners; the Universal Credit taper rate changes; increases in the National Living Wage; and freezing fuel duty, for example) people are facing unprecedented pressure on their household budgets and we must go further, and fast.
One blindly obvious solution to help people with the expected rise in fuel costs from April would be to scrap VAT and the so-called ‘green levies’ on bills. Collectively these make up around 25% of the average fuel bill and scrapping them would save the average household somewhere in the region of £250 pounds per year. Whilst this wouldn’t fully protect consumers against the expected £600 rise, it would go an awful long way towards helping families in the short-term.
It is imperative that the government doesn’t become blinded by green ideology in retaining these levies in the midst of millions of working people being plunged into fuel poverty. If there is one single thing which would demonstrate my Party being out of touch with working people it would be this.
In short, you can’t balance environmentalism on the backs of the poor who are struggling to keep the heating on. In any case, the green levy is spend on some very dubious projects: not least, a £1 billion subsidy to a power station burning wood chip pellets. Doesn’t sound very green does it?
Whilst cutting VAT and green levies would be a helpful short term measure it does not of course solve our energy crisis. Governments of both colours have hopelessly mismanaged our energy policy for decades. A reluctance to properly pursue nuclear energy and a reliance on fair weather green power has brought us to the point where we are dangerously reliant on the whims of a geo-political foe in Russia.
Our long term energy security surely necessitates expanding North Sea exploration and looking again at shale gas where appropriate. Whilst this may be unpalatable to some, the alternative of huge price volatility, the enormous costs to our economy, and working people suffering in cold homes is simply not an option.
Working class voters in red wall seats, like Blackpool South, will decide the outcome of the next election. The test will be whether people feel that the government is truly on the side of people such as them. That’s why the government can’t afford to get decisions such as this wrong.
Scott Benton is the Conservative MP for Blackpool South
6) Prime Minister 'looking at' what can be done to help with rising energy bills
Sky News, 10 January 2022
Boris Johnson has confirmed he is "looking at" what his government can do to reduce the cost of household energy bills amid soaring prices.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to a pharmacy in Uxbridge on Monday, the PM said he had discussed cost of living pressures with Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Sunday night and believes ministers have "got to help people, particularly on low incomes".
It comes after Labour proposed removing VAT on bills for a year and a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers as part of a package designed to save households hundreds of pounds on their energy costs.
A £6.6bn plan unveiled by the party this weekend would also see the party expand and increase the warm home discount for those most at risk.
Labour says the package of support would save most households around £200, while targeted support to those on lower incomes, pensioners and the squeezed middle would mean they save as much as £600.
The warm home discount scheme is a one-off £140 rebate on energy bills given to two million people in England and Wales - one million people on pension credit and one million families on working age benefits.
The government already plans to expand to around three million people this year - and increase the rebate to £150.
7) UK’s biggest energy users ‘may put off net zero spending due to gas crisis’
The Independent, 10 January 2022
Eight in 10 of the UK’s biggest energy users have said they are worried by rapid rises in energy prices and many are worried it could put their environmental investments at risk.
Intensive energy users largely have plans to cut their carbon emissions, according to a new survey.
Energy giant Vattenfall said that 90% of the companies said they planned to invest more than 7% of their revenues on reaching net zero over the next half decade.
But more than a third said they are thinking about calling off some investments so they can deal with the gas price crisis.
The decisions they (companies) make now will make or break their plans to tackle climate change
The price of gas has multiplied several times compared to a year ago. It is due in part to high demand from China low wind speeds in Europe and restricted supply.
It is likely to cause energy bills to increase by around 50% for most British households from the beginning of April when the new price cap is set.
But the crisis is also hitting businesses around the world, especially those in sectors that burn a lot of gas, including manufacturers.
“Businesses across the UK are clearly alive to the need to tackle climate change and reach net zero,” said Vattenfall Networks managing director Stewart Dawson.
“But without the right investment in their networks and systems, plans to switch to electric vehicles and increase their self-generation will have to be shelved if their networks can’t cope.
“The decisions they make now will make or break their plans to tackle climate change. We need to make it easier for businesses to gain access to the advice and support to show the options available to them to reach net zero in the most affordable way possible.”
The survey asked more than 500 senior decision makers in the UK what their plans are.
Investments that they might abandon could include improving energy efficiency, installing chargers for electric cars and buying solar panels for roofs.
8) German Covid funds redirected to boost green energy projects is 'constitutionally questionable'
Clean Energy Wire, 10 January 2022
Germany's Court of Auditors has criticised the supplementary budget presented by finance minister Christian Lindner, which rededicates billions of euros reserved for pandemic response measures to the country’s energy and climate fund, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by news website n-tv.
The auditors said the reallocation of funds is “constitutionally questionable”, as the budget proposal “fails to coherently explain” how recovery measures amid the coronavirus pandemic are linked to climate and energy expenditures. Lindner plans to rededicate credit worth 60 billion euros authorised in 2021 to curb the COVID-19 crisis, but never used, to finance the new government’s ambitious climate and energy plans.
The auditors argue that global warming is not a sudden and unforeseen development that requires emergency funding, but rather a permanent and systemic challenge that has to be addressed with regular budgetary measures. Using emergency credit could only be a means of last resort, once all other options have failed.
Lindner, who is head of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), plans to use the funds from 2021 in order to be able to abide by the country’s so-called debt brake in the coming years, but still finance climate action measures. The budgetary instrument is meant to keep government lending in check but has been temporarily suspended during the pandemic. Friedrich Merz, the designated new leader of the conservative opposition CDU party, said in December that the budget proposed by Lindner would be “the exact opposite of what the FDP has promised” and “one of the riskiest moves we’ve seen in years”.
The FDP leader has to strike a delicate balance between enabling the new government coalition’s emission reduction plans and maintaining his party’s reputation as an advocate of a small-state approach and opponent of public spending. The coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party has promised to bring the country on a path compatible with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree Celsius global warming limit, an endeavour that will require enormous investments in clean energy and mobility infrastructure.
Clean Energy Wire, 10 January 2022
Germany's Court of Auditors has criticised the supplementary budget presented by finance minister Christian Lindner, which rededicates billions of euros reserved for pandemic response measures to the country’s energy and climate fund, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by news website n-tv.
The auditors said the reallocation of funds is “constitutionally questionable”, as the budget proposal “fails to coherently explain” how recovery measures amid the coronavirus pandemic are linked to climate and energy expenditures. Lindner plans to rededicate credit worth 60 billion euros authorised in 2021 to curb the COVID-19 crisis, but never used, to finance the new government’s ambitious climate and energy plans.
The auditors argue that global warming is not a sudden and unforeseen development that requires emergency funding, but rather a permanent and systemic challenge that has to be addressed with regular budgetary measures. Using emergency credit could only be a means of last resort, once all other options have failed.
Lindner, who is head of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), plans to use the funds from 2021 in order to be able to abide by the country’s so-called debt brake in the coming years, but still finance climate action measures. The budgetary instrument is meant to keep government lending in check but has been temporarily suspended during the pandemic. Friedrich Merz, the designated new leader of the conservative opposition CDU party, said in December that the budget proposed by Lindner would be “the exact opposite of what the FDP has promised” and “one of the riskiest moves we’ve seen in years”.
The FDP leader has to strike a delicate balance between enabling the new government coalition’s emission reduction plans and maintaining his party’s reputation as an advocate of a small-state approach and opponent of public spending. The coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party has promised to bring the country on a path compatible with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree Celsius global warming limit, an endeavour that will require enormous investments in clean energy and mobility infrastructure.
9) US emissions and coal generation increased in 2021, threatening Biden's climate goals
The Washington Post, 10 January 2022
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States surged last year, putting the nation further off track from meeting President Biden's ambitious climate targets, your Climate 202 host and The Washington Post's Brady Dennis reported this morning.
The sobering analysis from the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, found that U.S. emissions rose 6.2 percent last year compared to 2020, although they remained below pre-pandemic levels. One main reason: a 17 percent jump in the burning of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, marking the first annual increase in the nation’s coal generation since 2014.
The analysis demonstrates that the United States is not emerging from the coronavirus pandemic with a greener economy, making it even harder for Biden to deliver on his pledge to reduce emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030, according to the authors.
Full story
The Washington Post, 10 January 2022
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States surged last year, putting the nation further off track from meeting President Biden's ambitious climate targets, your Climate 202 host and The Washington Post's Brady Dennis reported this morning.
The sobering analysis from the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, found that U.S. emissions rose 6.2 percent last year compared to 2020, although they remained below pre-pandemic levels. One main reason: a 17 percent jump in the burning of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, marking the first annual increase in the nation’s coal generation since 2014.
The analysis demonstrates that the United States is not emerging from the coronavirus pandemic with a greener economy, making it even harder for Biden to deliver on his pledge to reduce emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030, according to the authors.
Full story
10) Editorial: Biden’s fuel afflictions
The Washington Times, 9 January 2022
The new year forecasts relentless gasoline pains
That government existing to better the lives of its citizens is self-evident. Happiness can be an elusive pursuit, of course, and leaders are no less likely to zig when they should have zagged than the imperfect folks who choose them. Americans give their chief executive four years to discover the path to betterment, but their patience quickly wears thin when the trouble is intentional. President Biden has launched a flotilla of hardships during his first year in office, but few as harmful as the breakneck surge in fuel prices.
The 230 million Americans who drive spent the past year cringing at the sight of gas station signs flashing an average price of $3.02 per gallon. Fuel price analysts at Gas Buddy warn the worst is yet to come. In 2022, the average is forecast to bolt higher to $3.41 and could reach $4 a gallon by spring. With prices currently hovering around $3.29 nationwide and with trend-setting California already cracking through the stratospheric level of $4.66, the possibility is looking extremely likely.
The extra dollar a gallon hike over a year ago is on course to pilfer consumers’ pockets for an extra $80 billion, raising the nation’s gas bill to nearly $485 billion during 2022. Some happy new year.
In December, when prices were slightly less jaw-dropping, the Pew Research Center pointed out that the nation has endured a long history of gas price spikes. For example, the $4.11 Americans paid for gas in 2008 would have cost $5.20 in today’s dollars.
It is a painful reminder rendered all the more maddening by the realization that by electing Mr. Biden, voters made the fateful decision to rehire the Obama cadre who made those gas prices good and high, including then-Vice President Biden himself.
Viewing the turn of events as simply misfortune is to ignore the deliberate steps Mr. Biden has taken to instigate the price surge: The president canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, which, incidentally, triggered a lawsuit from the project builder seeking $15 billion in damages. Promising as a candidate “no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period,” he ordered a temporary halt of oil and gas drilling permits on government property.
Thankfully, a federal court blocked the executive order, but the energy industry heard the message: Fossil fuels are to be phased out. Choosing not to throw good money after bad, companies have responded to the 2020 pandemic energy-use slowdown by opting out of renewed drilling operations. Consequently, active wells across the nation totaled 991 in September — down from the pre-pandemic 2019 average of 1,253, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Willfully squeezing-off fossil fuels threatens the well-being of the nation. The president’s 43% approval rating quantifies his abysmal leadership. A year on, Americans are starting to roll up their sleeves — not for vaccinations — but to throw Team Biden out of office.
11) Editorial: No climate warriors in frozen foxholes
The Wall Street Journal, 10 January 2022
The climate warriors of the Democratic Party aren’t lacking for chutzpah, give them that.
The latest example is a letter from 41 Members of Congress to federal regulators, fretting about “the effect that anticipated increases in heating and energy costs will have on our constituents this winter.” You don’t say?
The letter’s signers include Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the House progressive caucus. This gaggle of greens normally thinks oil is drilled straight from hell, but they’re now asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to exercise its “power to influence retail rates for natural gas and electricity.”
Naturally, their theory is that higher costs are a result of “market manipulation,” “profiteering,” and “high oil and gas exports.” Maybe they should read—OK, their staffs should read—the underlying document cited by their own letter. “We expect households that use natural gas as their primary space heating fuel,” the Energy Information Administration says, “will spend $746 this winter, 30% more than they spent last winter.”
Part of that is a forecast for colder weather, but there’s also basic economics. “The main reason wholesale prices of natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products have risen,” the EIA says, “is that fuel demand has increased from recent lows faster than production.”
The report cites record exports of liquefied natural gas, but selling energy to American allies should be counted as a win, both economically and strategically, since it reduces the leverage of players like Vladimir Putin. The U.S. has enough gas to go around, and abundance is the ultimate fix for high prices.
But President Biden, encouraged by the signers of this letter, has made clear that U.S. fossil-fuel production must be phased out. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the PennEast Pipeline were both canceled even after beating opponents at the Supreme Court. Getting gas to Mr. Markey and Ms. Warren’s Massachusetts is so difficult that sometimes it comes into Boston Harbor on a tanker from Russia. And they wonder why heating prices are high.
The London-based Net Zero Watch is a campaign group set up to highlight and discuss the serious implications of expensive and poorly considered climate change policies. The Net Zero Watch newsletter is prepared by Director Dr Benny Peiser - for more information, please visit the website at www.netzerowatch.com.
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