Tories pledge to cut energy bills by 20%

The Conservative Party has pledged to cut energy bills by 20%, the Shadow Energy Secretary said they will cut carbon tax and will abolish wind farm subsidies.

Claire Coutinho said these two Tory policies will save a typical family household £165 a year.

Coutinho told delegates at the Tory party conference that by abolishing carbon tax will slash household bills by £8 billion.

Coutinho said, “The next Conservative Government will axe the carbon tax on electricity generation.

“When Ed Miliband blames gas for high energy bills, what he doesn’t tell you is that over 30% of what we pay for gas power is not to pay for fuel, but to pay for a carbon tax that the Government chooses to impose.

“Now, we know that we’ll need gas to keep the lights on for decades, so it just adds extra costs to our bills for no reason.

“But here’s the rub: the carbon tax inflates the cost of almost all other types of electricity too.

“So, all the wind and solar farm owners pocket those higher prices as higher profits…

“Axing the carbon tax would cut bills instantly by almost £8 billion a year.”

She added, “We’ll scrap Ed Miliband’s old rip-off wind farm subsidies.

“Back in 2008, Ed Miliband in his infinite wisdom chose to double the subsidies on offer for wind farms.

“That means when the wind blows, there are wind farms getting up to three times the market price of electricity, and you’re paying for that through your bills. It’s the biggest racket going.

“We closed the scheme when we were in office, but we’ll go further and say we must scrap those subsidies for good.

“Our energy system is not here to prop up the profits of multimillion-pound wind developers at billpayers’ expense. It’s here to deliver cheap, reliable energy for the country.

“Together, our policies to axe the carbon tax and scrap Ed’s rip-off wind subsidies would cut people’s electricity bills by 20%.

“The average family will save £165 a year off their electricity bill.”

She continued, “Only Ed Miliband could launch an £8 billion energy company that won’t produce any energy.

“Let’s call it what it is: a vanity project that won’t cut bills. So we will scrap it.”