Andy Burnham told to ‘drop Net Zero dogma’ as Labour's green levies blamed for energy bills hitting three-year high

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Ofgem announced a four per cent hike to the energy price cap this morning

Labour has been urged to "drop your Net Zero dogma” as it battled claims that green charges were driving up energy bills.

Ofgem announced a four per cent hike to the energy price cap this morning, bringing it to its highest level in three years.

The increase was blamed on wholesale gas prices, which have soared as a result of the war in Iran.

Energy giant EDF has predicted that bills will remain "stubbornly high" for years because of policy and system costs, irrespective of whether gas prices fall.

However, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh denied that Net Zero was costing people more, telling the BBC: “Absolutely not.”

She insisted that sky-high gas prices were the culprit and that clean energy was the only way to protect the country from geopolitical price spikes.

However, when pushed on LBC on whether green subsidies and network charges were also putting bills up, she said: “Well, no – so it is both. We should be honest, and it is both.”

She said that multi-billion pound upgrades to the electricity grid – which are ultimately funded through bills – were a necessity, with or without Net Zero.

The Energy Secretary added: "I don’t think, if we did not invest in the infrastructure of our energy system, anyone would forgive us.

“It is not a choice to make sure that we are upgrading our energy system. We absolutely need to do that.”

Ofgem has estimated that £70billion will be spent on network transmission upgrades between now and 2031.

Shadow Energy Secretary Clarie Coutinho said suggestions that these sums would be needed for the grid without Net Zero were "absolute codswallop".

"You need to build far more grid to connect lots of wind farms in the Scottish sea than you would, say, a gas of nuclear power plant which is closer to where the energy is needed," Ms Coutinho said.

"The fact the Energy Secretary doesn't seem to be aware of that is simply shocking.

"She needs to get her Department working on the true costing of renewables that I started but Ed Miliband cancelled, so she can be better armed with facts and not just wishful thinking."

Meanwhile, Robert Jenrick, Reform's Treasury spokesman, said that Net Zero costs were adding to bills "by stealth".

He predicted a “very difficult period ahead” for consumers, saying: “Households are being battered by energy price increases. Energy prices will have risen by 17% since April alone.

“My message to John Healey and Andy Burnham is very simple: drop your Net Zero dogma.

“Do what Reform have proposed. Get rid of the green taxes and levies that have been ladled onto people’s energy bills by stealth.

“If you do that… you will save the average household £200 off their energy bill.

“I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to put Net Zero ideology above the interests of British people this winter, who are going to find life very, very tough.”

Andy Mayer, energy analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said that it was policy costs that meant UK electricity was some of the most expensive in the world.

He told GB News: "The Government cannot make energy cheaper by blaming high costs on gas prices or hiding the costs in the national debt.

"The UK has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe, despite our neighbours facing similar gas prices. And all of us are paying much more than the Americans.

"The difference is Net Zero, and the UK's deeply ideological approach that makes rapid decarbonisation a higher priority than growth."

Energy UK, the trade association that covers the energy sector, said that gas prices had driven the latest price cap hike.

But it warned that policy and systems costs also needed to be tackled if bills were to become affordable.

Ned Hammond, Energy UK’s deputy director for customers, said: “The Government needs to assess how to bring bills down over the longer term.

“The impact the conflict in the Middle East has had on gas prices underlines why we need to move to using more of our own sources of clean energy.

“But it’s equally true that we need to look at a fairer way of funding the policy and system costs that are also driving bills higher.”

Bills have been lowered by Mr Burnham's decision to cut VAT on domestic electricity bills, starting in October.

Ms Fahnbulleh said that the Government would continue to strive to protect households.

She said: "Families will be understandably concerned about the cost of energy bills this winter, which is being driven up by the Iran War.

“Energy is an everyday essential and it needs to be affordable for everyone, which is why we have cut VAT on electricity bills from October to give families some breathing space.

“This has limited the rise in the price cap and follows the £150 in costs we removed from bills earlier this year, and we will keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills.”