Energy independence falls short if bills keep rising

The Government’s proposed Energy Independence Bill, set out in the King’s Speech, points in the right direction. Homegrown power, faster clean energy, and a new “golden age” of nuclear are all welcome.

But intent isn’t enough. The question is whether ministers will match their ambition to the scale of the challenge. Because the reality facing households tells a very different story.

In July, the Ofgem price cap is set to rise again. Petrol prices have surged. Food costs are climbing. For families already hit by years of energy shocks, this isn’t a policy debate - it’s a cost-of-living crisis.

Ukraine and Iran didn’t create Britain’s energy problem, they exposed it. We’re still too exposed to unpredictable fossil fuel prices, while running a system that struggles to turn cheap power into lower bills. Gas often sets the price of electricity, even when cheaper renewables are available. That’s the real challenge.

Britain can’t stay on the fossil fuel rollercoaster. But neither can it assume that piling into clean power alone - especially if done inefficiently - will automatically bring down costs or improve security.

The question isn’t whether we transition, but how. And at what price?

Right now, electricity in the UK is simply too expensive, and with the current strategy, prices are on track to go up even if gas prices fall due to rising costs of investing in networks and of balancing a renewables-based system efficiency.

Furthermore, only around a fifth of our energy use comes from electricity – a number that has not been increasing in recent decades. This leaves most of the economy still hooked on fossil fuels, whether we get to clean power or not. Without fixing that, we’ll stay stuck: exposed to global shocks, high prices and slow progress. Electrification is the missing piece across heating, transport and industry.

The US, China and India understand an effective energy strategy can’t rely on clean power alone. They focus on delivering abundant, reliable and low-cost power to drive growth, with clean energy scaling as one part of that.

Here in the UK, the debate is still too ideological. The Government focuses narrowly on targets, the Conservatives on more oil and gas. Neither, on its own, is enough.

There are other hard truths. The silence on North Sea oil and gas - including Jackdaw and Rosebank - is striking. The Climate Change Committee is clear: we’ll still need oil and gas for decades. Producing more at home, where it makes sense, isn’t a betrayal of net zero, it’s basic economic security.

This is a test of political seriousness. For too long, Britain has settled for small fixes and slow progress, falling short of what the moment demands. Get this wrong, and we stay exposed to the same problems.

If this Bill is to succeed, it must move beyond rhetoric and urgently deliver what people need – cheap and secure energy.

Until that shows up, “energy independence” will ring hollow.

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Tone Langengen is a Senior Policy Advisor, Climate & Energy Policy at The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

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