Carbon emission charge plan slammed

26/01/12

By Leo Stevens

The Energy and Climate Change Committee has warned that the Government's attempts to make businesses more environmentally friendly could drive up household electricity bills.

The committee also warned that heavy industry would be adversely affected by the Government's decision to set tougher penalties for carbon emissions than the rest of Europe had planned on implementing.

It went on to say that the plan to reduce carbon emissions would not necessarily succeed, while high carbon costs could lead to higher electricity bills as the UK effectively ends up subsidising other EU countries.

The committee's report urged the Treasury not to implement revenue raising exercises "disguised as a green policy".

Committee chairman Tim Yeo said: "A revenue raising exercise disguised as a green policy won't help anybody, the price of carbon has to be increased at an EU level to kick-start investment in clean energy."