TELL TRUTH ON 'FANTASY' COST OF NET ZERO PUSH

Report warns green drive could cost Britons £9trillion, far above official figures

- BY CHRISTIAN CALGIE Senior Political Correspondent

ED Miliband's net zero project could land the taxpayer with a huge bill of £9trillion, a report has claimed.

Officials have deliberately and consistently underestimated the cost of heat pumps, renewables and electric vehicles, according to the paper from the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Its author said: "The true cost of net zero is much higher than we believe.” The findings were backed by Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho. She said: “Wildly optimistic assumptions and crippling groupthink in our institutions means we're flying blind — and the result is the highest electricity prices in the world and our industry fleeing overseas.“

When I was Energy Secretary I had to pull teeth to make the Energy Department carry out an accurate costing of wind and solar — one which factors in all the extra costs of building the grid, paying wind farms to switch off when it’s too windy, and paying for gas backup for when it’s not windy enough. Ed Miliband has since cancelled that work, which tells you all you need to know about how little this government cares about the cost of net zero.”

Forecasts vary widely on the true cost of meeting the government target of net zero by 2050.