Tony Blair’s thinktank accuses Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices | Green politics

Tony Blair’s think tank has accused Ed Miliband of raising energy prices in a bid to make Britain’s energy supply more environmentally friendly.

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) published a report on Friday criticizing the government’s green policies and calling on the energy minister to abandon some policies altogether, including almost completely decarbonising the electricity system by 2030.

The report fuels growing criticism from the right about the government’s pursuit of its decarbonisation target and deepens animosity between the two former Labor leaders over climate policy.

The report, written by the institute’s senior energy policy advisor Tone Langengen and approved by Blair, said: “If Clean Energy 2030 was fit for purpose, this is no longer the case: The world has changed economically, technologically and geopolitically.

“The UK energy framework has not adapted to these new conditions and as a result policy is moving away from the foundations it is meant to serve.”

A Labor source said in response: “The mainstream, centre-stage position, supported by economics and British business, is that getting rid of expensive fossil fuel markets controlled by petrostates and dictators and cleaning up domestic energy is the right choice for Britain.”

Miliband is under pressure to cut energy bills, having promised to cut energy bills by an average of £300 before the election. This week Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea said electricity prices in 2030 would be higher than at the height of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Blair has previously criticized the government’s energy policies, claiming last year that efforts to phase out fossil fuels were “doomed to fail” and that the climate debate was “torn apart by irrationality”.

Blair, whose think tank has worked for the governments of petro-states including Saudi Arabia, says the government is pushing up energy prices by pursuing strict targets for deploying clean energy no matter the cost.

Similar claims have been made by the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have vowed to abandon the UK’s central climate commitments if they come to power. TBI says it supports the government’s target of reaching net zero by 2050.

Last month the government commissioned 8.4GW of offshore wind energy at an average price of £60.25 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which it said was on track to meet the 2030 target; This is a 50% increase over prices paid in 2019.

Ministers say the price compares favorably with the cost of commissioning new gas power, but the TBI report says gas prices are unusually high due to the war in Ukraine and will fall in the long term.

But the government says gas prices will likely remain high due to geopolitical uncertainty.

A spokesman for the energy department said: “Our clean energy mission is the only way to reduce bills completely. The alternatives leave Britain dependent on petro-states and dictators who are helping to exacerbate the cost of living crisis by controlling fossil fuel markets, and this is not in the interests of the British people.”

“Becoming a clean energy superpower is the path to energy sovereignty, lower bills and thousands of good jobs in our communities.”

The TBI also said the government should do more to encourage drilling in the North Sea, including reducing windfall taxes on oil and gas companies.

“In a world of rising energy demand, tight public finances and intense geopolitical competition, the UK cannot afford to treat domestic production as a moral signal rather than a strategic asset,” the report states.

Blair says he is driven by a desire to help cash-strapped consumers and ensure the UK commissions enough electricity generation to power the AI ​​revolution. His critics argue he is motivated by funding his institute, which does not make a profit but gives the prime minister access to world leaders.

As well as its work with Saudi Arabia, the institute also receives donations of tens of millions of pounds each year from Larry Ellison, co-founder of technology company Oracle, which is making a major push into artificial intelligence software.

A TBI spokesperson said: “Our work on net zero and energy is based on a single principle: Policies should reflect the real world.

“Claims that our analysis is informed by the fact that we work in energy-producing countries are false. They avoid getting into the substance of the argument based on data and global trends.”