Britain could cut electricity system costs by £320bn over two decades by abandoning the Government’s Clean Power 2030 strategy and retaining a larger role for gas alongside nuclear and renewables, according to a report from the centre-right think tank Onward.
The study represents a direct challenge to Labour’s energy strategy, arguing that the cost of connecting vast amounts of renewable generation to the grid, balancing intermittent power and maintaining backup capacity has been underestimated.
Under the alternative model, household electricity bills would fall by about £200 from 2027 levels by 2035, compared with roughly £50 under current policy.
By 2050, the difference would widen to about £300 against £130 under the Government’s existing approach.
The largest saving, according to Onward, would come from reducing the scale of grid expansion. Researchers estimate that building nuclear and gas generation closer to existing infrastructure could cut network costs by £137bn between 2030 and 2050.
The plan would also remove carbon charges on gas-fired generation and retain gas as a major source of flexible power. Gas would account for 23 per cent of electricity generation in 2050, while the overall system would remain about 80 per cent clean.
Former energy secretary Claire Coutinho is expected to use the report to argue that Labour’s pursuit of near-total decarbonisation risks making electrification too expensive for households and industry.
But the proposal carries a significant environmental trade-off. Onward calculates that retaining gas would produce an additional 524mn tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 compared with the current pathway.
Critics also dispute the claimed savings. Jess Ralston of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said gas and nuclear offered no guarantee of lower costs, while renewables had already reduced wholesale electricity prices.
The Government warned that greater dependence on gas would expose consumers to volatile international fuel prices and could undermine efforts to reduce energy insecurity.
The report nevertheless sharpens the political divide over Britain’s energy strategy: whether the priority should be rapid decarbonisation or a cheaper electricity system built around reliability, domestic generation and a slower transition away from fossil fuels.
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