Households are facing a decade of higher energy bills from the race to hit net zero and inflated gas prices, KPMG has warned.
According to Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG, bills will remain high for the next five to ten years because the “transition to net zero will add cost one way or another to our energy bills.”
Ministers have set a target for the UK to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but experts warn that reducing fossil fuel supplies too quickly risks causing a new surge in energy prices.
The forecast came after the UK’s infrastructure tsar warned that ministers are in danger of missing the targets after only achieving “negligible” progress on insulating homes and rolling out heat pumps.
The Big Four accountant predicted that energy bills would remain roughly 93% higher over the next decade than in the two years preceding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which fueled a surge in wholesale gas prices.
Wholesale petrol prices have fallen by more than 80% since their peak in August of last year, but they are still roughly triple what they were before the energy crisis began.
KPMG’s Yael Selfin said she expects energy bills to drop in July and remain at that level for the next five to 10 years.
Analysts also predict that the energy price cap, set by Ofgem, will fall to £1,981 from its current level of £4,279 in July. In February 2020 the cap was £1,042.
“There could be other energy shocks, but on average that may be more of the equilibrium price” Selfin said.