Energy bills driven up by £1bn wind farm 'racket'

The boss of Britain’s biggest energy provider says households are facing higher bills because of a “racket” in which wind farms are paid to stop producing power.

- ALEX ROSS

There are 2,500-plus wind farms across the UK - mainly in Scotland, Yorkshire and the North East - which are key to Labour’s pledge to decarbonise the country’s electricity sector by 2030, with more planned after Sir Keir Starmer lifted a ban on new onshore sites in England.

But Greg Jackson, the founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, told The Independent that insufficient infrastructure to carry electricity produced by wind farms is forcing them to shut down, adding costs to consumers. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) pays wind farms for the energy they could have produced when they are forced to stop, and then buys alternative electricity, such as from gas-fired stations, to fill the gap.

Mr Jackson, whose company invests in wind farms and advocates green power, said the policy has already cost £1bn this year, compared with £1.2bn across 2024 and £780m in 2023. Some wind farms are owned by companies that also run gas plants, effectively getting paid twice.

“The system operator looks at a map and they realise there is a bunch of generators that are going to get paid but their electricity won’t get to market because of grid congestion, so they pay them anyway, and then they find someone else to fill the gaps and pay them,” said Mr Jackson. “It is a racket.”

Mr Jackson is named today on The Independent’s Climate 100 list, which recognises business leaders, innovators and advocates who are working to alleviate the impact of the climate crisis. He will also make a keynote speech at our second annual Climate 100 event in New York tomorrow, part of the city’s influential climate week.