OBR Omits Billions of Green Subsidies from Budget Forecast

After last week’s budget (well, before actually!), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that green subsidies were set to increase our energy bills by £8.1 billion a year by 2030, taking the total cost to £18.6 billion.

However, the Telegraph has discovered that tucked away in their small print, the OBR has admitted this understates the likely eventual cost:


To read the rest of this article, you need to donate at least £5/month or £50/year to the Daily Sceptic, then create an account on this website. The easiest way to create an account after you’ve made a donation is to click on the ‘Log In’ button on the main menu bar, click ‘Register’ underneath the sign-in box, then create an account, making sure you enter the same email address as the one you used when making a donation. Once you’re logged in, you can then read all our paywalled content, including this article. Being a Donor will also entitle you to comment below the line and access the premium content in the Sceptic, our weekly podcast. A one-off donation of at least £5 will also entitle you to the same benefits for one month. You can donate here.

There are more details about how to create an account, and a number of things you can try if you’re already a donor – and have an account – but cannot access the above perks on our Premium page.

Subscribe
Notify of

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ElaineH
ElaineH
4 months ago

Ed Miliband needs sectioning with all his other net zero lunatics.

SimCS
4 months ago
Reply to  ElaineH

Absolutely correct. We need protection from his mad, insane ideology. HE is the danger, not the climate.

Dickie Hart
Dickie Hart
4 months ago

Meanwhile in the real World, in the last year China has commissioned approx 94.5 GW of additional coal fired electricity generation capacity to add to its current fleet of 1200 coal fired power plants. For reference 94.5GW is approx 3 times what the entire UK generates from all sources be it gas, nuclear, solar, wind etc etc Can’t wait for that cheap energy!

varmint
4 months ago

Pretending to save the planet FIRST. —-People LAST. ——The greatest pseudo scientific fraud ever perpetrated. The Green Agenda has all the hallmarks of a Classic SCAM. —Urgency, Morality, Settled Science, Cannot be Questioned, Mus Act Now, Think of the Children etc etc. —-There is no Climate Crisis. It is an eco socialist fraud.

rms
rms
4 months ago

“None of these upgrades would be necessary if it was not for Net Zero targets.”

Say no more.

EppingBlogger
4 months ago

The OBR seems to have carelessly forgotten the “R”. Forecasts are not even fairly presented if intentional omissions are given in footnotes.

JohnK
4 months ago

Some of the gas pipeline work is just maintenance and repair, such as replacing old ductile cast iron pipes with modern plastic ones. I’ve seen that done in a suburban area. Apart from wear and tear, I think the idea of changing to a mixture of hydrogen and methane in distribution might be part of it, in an effort to mitigate leakage using H.

Incidentally, the cheapest form of energy to my place on the fixed price deal for next year after 13/12 is gas, by a long way, c.f day and night rate electric.

Gezza England
Gezza England
4 months ago
Reply to  JohnK

Nothing to do with any use of a hydrogen gas mixture. Polyethylene pipe is more durable than cast iron and can be welded using a hotplate. Not totally leak free as the new main they installed in my road filled with water when the water table rose. Increased traffic and heavier trucks can cause vibration cracks. When I worked in the City there was a big programme of gas main replacement put down to bomb damage.

Gezza England
Gezza England
4 months ago

The OBR is one of those things we didn’t seem to need for centuries, same as a Supreme Court. Dump it.

Rusty123
Rusty123
4 months ago

Any sane person can see this is sheer lunacy, billions of £’s spraffed away because of idiots like Milliband, get him sectioned for humanitys sake, why are we continuing to let this happen?.

SimCS
4 months ago

OFGEM has deceitfully claimed these upgrades will eventually reduce bills by £80 a year” – £80 down after having risen by hundreds?? Rational people do not call that a saving.