Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many levies are currently charged, directly or indirectly, to domestic energy consumers as a result of environmental or net-zero policies; and what is each levy expected to cost consumers in the current financial year.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariff scheme, CfDs, Green Gas Levy and Nuclear RAB fund investment into home grown clean energy and account for 5% of the current price cap for a typical dual-fuel household.
Independent research that confirms that renewables can drive down electricity prices, already having reduced wholesale electricity prices by up to a quarter - or around £25/MWh - in 2024.
Over this parliament, we are working relentlessly to translate the much cheaper wholesale costs of clean power into lower bills for consumers: the transfer of the RO costs to public expenditure is a significant step towards rebalancing levies away from electricity.
The actions we took at the Budget, which has taken an average £150 of costs off energy bills, is now factored into bills for the years to come.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) number, (2) nature, and (3) estimated cost, of any additional environmental or net zero-related levies that they plan to charge to domestic consumers over the next (a) five, and (b) ten, years.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Instability in the Middle East has shown that Britain’s reliance on international fossil fuel markets leaves families and businesses exposed to volatile gas prices. Levies play an important role in getting the country the clean power we need to protect consumers from this volatility.
The scale of future levies will depend on future policy decisions. The transfer of 75% of domestic Renewables Obligation costs to public expenditure is a significant step towards rebalancing levies away from electricity as part of the actions we took at the Budget, which have taken an average £150 of costs off household energy bills and are now factored into bills for the years to come.
The government will continue to explore ways to lower energy bills for consumers and reduce barriers for consumers to adopt clean technologies. Any further changes will only be done in a way which is fair to consumers.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many years of oil reserves remain available for extraction in (1) the UK, and (2) the UK Continental Shelf, at current rates of consumption.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The North Sea Transition Authority’s latest production projections, published in February 2026, indicate that the UK Continental Shelf could produce around 2.2 billion barrels of oil (bnbbl) between 2026 and 2050.
This is equivalent to around five years of UK oil consumption, based on final consumption of petroleum products in 2024. 80-90% of UK crude is exported to be refined abroad, as UK refineries are not set up to process its particular chemical characteristics.
The NSTA’s October 2025 reserves and resources report estimates around 2.0 bnbbl remaining in technically and commercially viable oil reserves.