The UK government has officially dropped controversial plans to introduce “zonal pricing” for electricity, following two years of consultation and intense debate across the energy sector.
The proposed system, which would have charged households and businesses different electricity rates depending on where they lived, has been abandoned in favour of maintaining a single national pricing model. The decision, confirmed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Thursday, aims to keep the energy system “fair, affordable, secure and efficient”.
The now-scrapped zonal pricing proposal would have resulted in cheaper electricity for consumers in areas with surplus generation, such as Scotland, where wind farms are frequently curtailed due to low local demand. In contrast, users in London and the south-east, where electricity demand outstrips local supply, risked significantly higher bills.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said the move to retain national pricing was part of the government’s wider clean energy ambitions.
“Building clean power at pace and scale is the only way to get Britain off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets,” he said.
“A reformed system of national pricing is the best way to deliver an electricity system that is fairer, more affordable, and more secure, at less risk to vital investment in clean energy than other alternatives.”
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