Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
3
Conclusion
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
The Department has not done enough to address the challenges of providing financial support to vulnerable consumers in the event of another crisis. The Department reported that between mid–2022 and mid–2023 the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) and Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) prevented around 289,000 households in England from going …
Government response. The government has consulted on expanding the Warm Home Discount scheme, which is estimated to reach an additional 2.7 million households, and is considering options for better targeting of future bill support.
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
We remain concerned that even after the crisis has subsided, UK electricity bills are the highest of the countries providing comparable data to the International Energy Agency. The UK had the highest electricity price out of 25 countries reporting both domestic and industrial electricity prices in 2023, (including taxes and …
Government response. The government commits to publishing a decision on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) by mid-2025 and will provide the Committee with a timetable for implementing the proposals for change once decisions are made.
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
The Department has more to do to convince Parliament that it has a robust plan for ensuring security of energy supply to meet increasing demand. The security of energy supply is the highest priority for the Department. Energy demand is set to rise from increasing numbers of electric vehicles and …
Government response. The government and National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) have updated response and communications procedures, including building educational content and reframing communications, and the National Emergency Plan will be updated by DESNZ later in 2025.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (the Department) on its work to provide financial support to consumers in the light of significant increases in their energy bills.1
Government response. The government will share overarching lessons learned reports and domestic/non-domestic evaluation reports with the Committee upon their publication in Q3 2025, and will write to the Committee within one month of publication to detail learnings for future energy crises.
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
Analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility concluded that the size of the government’s financial support for energy bills (relative to Gross Domestic Product) was one of the highest in Europe because of the UK’s reliance on natural gas.69 The Department highlighted to us the importance of its clean power …
Government response. The government secures electricity security via the Capacity Market (CM), assessing capacity annually and securing it in advance, while also addressing the variable nature of renewables by relying on unabated gas and working with the market to understand the capacity …
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
The Department described energy security and the security of supply as its highest priority. We asked the Department what it thought about concerns, set out in a document published by Net Zero Watch called “Blackout Risk in the GB Grid”, that events such as certain weather conditions, or interruption to …
Government response. The government secures electricity security via the Capacity Market (CM), assessing capacity annually and securing it in advance, while also addressing the variable nature of renewables by relying on unabated gas and working with the market to understand the capacity …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Accepted
Demand on the grid is likely to grow due to the increased demand for electric cars and heat pumps and a rising number of data processing centres, as well as the move to building more new homes.78 In addition, the Department also has plans to achieve a decarbonised, or clean, …
Government response. The Capacity Market (CM) is the department’s primary mechanism to ensure supply meets demand and delivers electricity security, and the department is focused on maintaining existing flexible capacity to ensure security of supply.
HM Treasury