Green energy subsidies are failing to deliver cheap low carbon power

CityAM
"Between 2010 and 2014, the annual cost to businesses and homes of subsidising solar, wind and hydro-electric power – under the renewables obligation (RO) – is set to double, topping £2.5bn and costing each household the equivalent of £97 a year. Meanwhile, feed-in-tariffs (FITs), the subsidy paid by consumers to encourage small businesses and homes to generate renewable power, will quadruple between 2012 and 2015 – hitting £790m. .....What approach should the UK take? First, we must rely more on nuclear power and shale gas reserves. Unlike current renewable technologies, they can be produced at scale and help keep bills down over the long-term, while reducing UK reliance on carbon. Prospects for nuclear were boosted by Hitachi’s £700m investment in new plants at Anglesey and Oldbury. That is positive, but not enough. It is a measure of the last government’s negligence that, even with extra support from CfDs, nuclear generation is only expected to return to 1990s levels by 2030."