Decarbonisation is a term that we hear daily working within the renewable industry. In essence, the process of slowing climate impacts from unsustainable fuels is one of the guiding principles that keeps all of us busy. Whilst most people agree broadly on the ambition to reduce carbon emissions, there is often a sea of information that consumers have to navigate, which can sometimes lead to misconceptions about the true impacts of decarbonisation.
One common objection for customers is that transitioning to net zero will spike energy prices. It’s a fair assumption, given that the methods we have been using for years would have likely been the most cost-effective and simple solution.
This however, doesn’t account for the explosion in new technology, which has rapidly brought down costs. As of 2020, Solar PV is the cheapest electricity the world has ever produced.
What does this mean?
To an end user this could just be another success story that doesn’t impact their lives. What we’ve found though, is that the drive towards lower carbon has actually reduced the average energy bill in the UK.
We dived into the data from the UK Government to compare the average electricity bill from 30 years ago with the most recent data.
1991 Avg Electricity Cost: £847
2020 Avg Electricity Cost: £707
If we then calculate the cost of inflation using the Bank of England’s handy calculator, we find that the modern value of that 1991 figure is a whopping £1,859.
This means that the average energy bill has dropped £1,152. That’s a whopping 61% in real terms.
How your Customers Can Benefit Even More:
We have seen huge savings being made across the energy industry, with decarbonisation and technology improvements that come with it driving a lot of that change.
The next generation of savings that your customers can make will be through taking control of their domestic energy. With PV & Battery Storage solutions available to help them make that next step, they can get ahead of the game and make real savings for them and their families.
If you want to drive a greener future for your community and your customers why not register for some free online training here→
What is coming next?
Energy bills will rise for about 15 million households in the UK from April after the regulator, Ofgem, lifted the price cap on standard tariffs back to pre-pandemic levels.
Ofgem said that for six months from April 2021 the price cap will increase by £96 to £1,138 for 11 million customers on a standard dual-fuel energy tariff, and by £87 to £1,156 for 4 million prepayment meter customers. The regulator blamed the higher than expected rise on the sudden increase in prices on the wholesale energy markets.
Since the introduction of Ofgem’s energy price cap (designed to protect consumers from unfair tariffs) in January 2019, most suppliers have based energy prices on their default tariffs on the rate of the price cap. Ofgem adjusts the level of the cap up or down twice a year to reflect the costs of supplying electricity and gas for suppliers.
Rising costs
Rising usage is leaving households worried about how they will afford increasing costs. Homeworkers are spending more time indoors and could face a much higher usage bill with more devices plugged in, heating on and consumption up.
Added to this, during the first three months of the year, households typically consume almost 30 per cent of their annual energy making it the most expensive quarter of the year. Click here to go through to our partner to make great savings.
Energy saving tips
Our energy bills are also a reflection of how much gas and electricity we consume. And there are many ways we can be more energy efficient in our homes and save money.
The Energy Trust recommends turning off standby appliances which will save you £30 a year and if you installed room thermostats, programmers and thermostatic radiator valves, you could save around £75 a year. Almost half the money spent on energy bills is absorbed by heating and hot water costs and the Trust says that turning your heating down by just one degree could save up to £80 a year.
And don’t forget there are many quick and easy changes you can make in the home today. A simple example is to use energy-saving light bulbs which cost more than traditional bulbs but can save £60 over the bulb’s lifetime as they last up to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. So there has never been a better time to make savings on your energy bills.