Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of electricity levies on the uptake of (a) heat pumps and (b) other low carbon heating.

Heat pumps are a widely suitable and cost-effective way to decarbonise heating in our homes. They can already be cheaper to run than a fossil fuel system, particularly where consumers have a sufficiently insulated home and heating systems are designed to operate at the lowest possible flow temperature. Nevertheless, the Government recognises that addressing current distortions in electricity and gas prices is important to make it easier for consumers to switch to low-carbon heating. The Government accepted a recommendation in the 2022 Independent Review of Net Zero to make significant progress on rebalancing of gas and electricity prices by the end of 2024.