'We'll scrap Labour's carbon tax and cut household energy bills by £165'

HOUSEHOLD energy bills would be slashed by £165 under a Conservative plan to axe the carbon tax and abolish wind farm subsidies, the Tories have claimed.

- By Jonathan Walker Whitehall Editor

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho pledged to cut prices by 20% and scrap the “climate targets” championed by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

She said a commitment to generate net zero carbon emissions had “become a religion” that was not working for Britain and “not working for the climate”.

Her “cheap power plan” would end the carbon tax on electricity generation, which would reduce bills by almost £8billion, she said.

And she also pledged to stop the renewable obligation scheme, which subsidises green energy generation such as windfarms.

These changes would reduce the average household electricity bill averaging just over £850 — by £165, Ms Coutinho said. She told the Manchester conference: “When Ed Miliband blames gas for high energy bills, what he does not tell you is that over 30% of what we pay for gas power is not to pay for fuel, but to pay for a carbon tax the Government chooses to impose.