Ed Miliband accused of 'covering up' evidence Labour’s Net Zero plans will increase electricity bills

Ed Miliband has been accused of "covering up" evidence Labour’s Net Zero plans will increase household electricity bills for British households.

The Conservative Party accused the Energy Secretary of burying documents which reveal his decision to scrap significant market reforms in order to aid his controversial green policy.

A proposal for regional electricity pricing last year was abandoned as wind farm developers claimed it would derail Labour’s clean power 2030 target and affect investment.

Mr Miliband vowed a “full cost-benefit analysis" would be published at the end of 2025.

However, the report has not yet been published.

The Energy Secretary has also blocked the release of an official impact assessment of the policy, leading critics to slam the handling of the data.

The unreleased document was never finished, and it would cause "confusion and misunderstanding" if released now, the publication has revealed.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero adds that "work on the modelling and analysis is still ongoing" despite Mr Miliband vowing its release nearly six months ago.

Releasing the confidential document might "disrupt both energy and financial markets", Labour argue, potentially affecting domestic bills, though it offered no supporting evidence for this claim.

Sam Richards, of the think tank Britain Remade, described Mr Miliband as reckless and urged him to "come clean" on the decision not to move the pricing model.

He added: "Hiding behind process to stop the release of the impact assessment, after announcing the policy, makes no sense, unless, as suspected, it shows that decisions taken by the energy secretary will in fact raise bills."

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho told The Telegraph: "Zonal pricing reduces wind developer profits, but it also cuts the cost of building the grid, which is already almost a third of electricity bills."

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She added: “Of course, once again Ed Miliband is siding with wind developers over consumers, and now he’s trying to cover up just how much it’s going to cost you."

Emma Floyd, the department’s director for clean energy investment, said: "We accept that public interest heavily favours disclosure. However, we have to take into consideration the types of factors outlined above."

The proposed zonal pricing system would have divided Britain's electricity market into regional areas, each establishing prices based on local supply and demand conditions.

Prominent backers included the National Energy System Operator, Octopus Energy and Ovo Energy, who argued the reform would reduce bills by cutting system costs, particularly the substantial payments made to wind farms for switching off when grid congestion prevents their power from being used.

Research conducted by FTI Consulting for Octopus estimated annual savings of more than £3.7billion.

However, major wind farm operators such as SSE, Scottish Power and RWE resisted the changes, warning of a "postcode lottery" that would paralyse investment.

Civil servants advising Mr Miliband reportedly supported the reform and recommended approval, yet the Energy Secretary announced in July he was scrapping it "to give certainty to investors".

Under the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero plans, offshore wind capacity is set to triple by 2030.

A DESNZ spokesman said: "Transitioning to zonal pricing would have created at least seven years of uncertainty, putting a risk premium on new investment that could have caused bills to rise in the short term."

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