The shame of Big Energy’s £3.9 billion profit windfall

It is one of the world’s great mysteries: if wind and solar energy are supposed to be so cheap then why does the UK – which generates a higher proportion of its electricity from wind or solar than virtually any other developed country – have higher electricity prices than any other member of the International Energy Agency? There are several reasons for this, in fact. Wind and solar energy are only cheap if you look at the marginal price of generation, which is very low because the wind blows and the sun shines for free. Add on the cost of back-up and/or energy storage to make up for the gaps in generation and it becomes a very different story.

But Citizens’ Advice claims to have come up with another reason for Britain’s sky-high electricity prices. It claims that ‘network companies’ – such as National Grid, UK Power Networks and Scottish Power – which between them operate the grid, have enjoyed a £3.9