Written question asked by Alex Mayer (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 June 2026. It was answered by Martin McCluskey (Labour) on Friday, 5 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Electricity: Prices

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of permanently moving social and environmental levies from electricity bills into general taxation on (a) average household energy bills and (b) levels of fuel poverty.

Answer: At the Autumn Budget, HMG took £150 of costs off energy bills, partially achieved through moving 75% of the cost of the domestic Renewables Obligation (RO) to the Exchequer. This arrangement will continue for the next 3 years. The transfer of these RO costs to public expenditure is a significant step towards rebalancing levies away from electricity: cheaper electricity is the cornerstone of the low-carbon economy that we are building through our Clean Energy mission. We will continue to explore ways to both lower energy bills for consumers including the fuel poor, and reduce barriers for consumers to adopt clean technologies.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 3453
Session: 2026-27
Subjects: Billing Environment protection Electricity Fuel poverty Prices Taxation
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk