The government will decide by the summer on controversial proposals to charge some households more for their electricity than others, Sky News understands.
The energy secretary Ed Miliband has been mulling over plans for “zonal pricing”, which would see different regions of the country pay different rates, based on supply and demand levels in the local area.
The idea is to attract industry to build in low-cost areas, and incentivise new electricity generation in regions where people need it most.
Supporters say zonal pricing could lower everyone’s bills to some extent by making the system more efficient – but some would fall more than others.
Critics, including renewable energy generators, warn the plans would create a postcode lottery for bills and put investors off certain areas, risking jobs.
It is not yet clear how the changes would be passed on to household bills. But it could see people in the south of England pay much more than those in parts of Scotland – though not, the government hopes, more than they do now.
Mr Miliband is expected to make his recommendation to fellow government ministers in the coming weeks, before the government decides either way by the middle of this year.
They are keen to resolve the issue – which was also considered under the last Tory government – before businesses start bidding for fresh renewable power contracts in summer.
UK still ‘vulnerable and exposed’
It comes as the UK government hosts a summit on energy security in London today, lobbying other countries to leave fossil fuels behind.
Read more: UK clean energy vision collides with Trump’s fossil fuel frenzy
Mr Miliband said the government’s push to generate more clean power at home was as much about energy security as it was about fighting climate change.
“As long as energy can be weaponised against us, our countries and our citizens are vulnerable and exposed,” he said in a speech.
But he also said North Sea oil and gas would “continue to play an important role” in the UK energy mix, fuelling campaigners’ fears it may yet allow the Rosebank oil and gas field to go ahead, despite hurdles in court and the government’s own concerns.
Mr Miliband quoted a message from King Charles that said the “transition to more sustainable energy sources can itself lead to more resilient and secure energy systems”.
Trump’s representative invokes God
US President Donald Trump’s junior representative at the summit, acting assistant secretary Tommy Joyce, quoted the Bible in his address.
He urged delegates to “remember God’s golden rule, and that is that we should love our neighbour as ourselves”.
That means helping them out of poverty through access to affordable energy, according to Mr Joyce.
About 750 million people in the world still have no access to electricity, and team Trump says American oil, gas and coal are the answer.
However, a report by RMI suggests that new wind and solar are the cheapest option for new electricity in 82% of the world – though for some countries are hard to finance upfront.
Mr Joyce also continued Trump’s ongoing attacks on climate policies, criticising what he described as “so-called renewables” and the “net zero agenda”.
‘Most delicate debate’
Before the summit, a senior UN official said the idea that the switch to clean power compromised energy security and affordability “is just not true”.
“We really need to dispel this notion,” said the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “If you are dependent on volatile and expensive fossil fuel imports, fossil fuels equal energy insecurity.”
A senior official from Brazil, which in November is hosting the COP30 UN climate summit, also this week said there had been a “rather successful” attempt by some to frame energy security and the switch to clean energy as a question of “either/or”.
“We don’t believe it is.”
He called it “one of the most delicate debates” of the moment.
