UK Energy Secretary Calls Affordability Her 'Overriding Objective'

By Daniel Okafor

UK households face the biggest jump in energy bills in four years this January, and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has put affordability at the top of her agenda. "With the cost of living biting, affordability is my overriding objective, without a doubt," she told BBC Panorama in an interview recorded last week and aired on Monday night.

Fahnbulleh insisted the government's drive for cleaner power would cut bills in the long term. She called Labour's push for greener electricity "one of our routes to delivering affordability." The mechanism, in her words: homegrown generation replacing imported fuel. "The drive to clean power is about decoupling our dependence on global fossil fuel markets," she said. "Ultimately if we have homegrown renewables, nuclear, that's the way in which we will drive bills in the long term."

Why is the politics suddenly so hard?

Labour has faced mounting pressure over its climate ambitions since taking office. Reform UK has risen in the opinion polls. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has abandoned her party's former pledge to reach net zero by 2050. Both opposition parties have targeted public subsidy schemes for renewable electricity generation, arguing that the clean energy drive has pushed up consumer costs.

The numbers behind that argument are stark. UK households pay some of the highest electricity rates in Europe. Bills have risen partly because of subsidies and partly because international conflicts have driven up the price of gas, a fossil fuel that still sets much of the market price.

Fahnbulleh conceded the political ground is shifting. She said the consensus on climate action was "under pressure" and acknowledged that public consent depends on the transition paying off financially. "People want to blame net zero for that. Now, I don't believe that's the case," she said. "But I'm very clear that part of the way in which we build and maintain public consent is that we've got to show that this transition, which we have to do on climate grounds, is good for people's pockets."

What has the government actually done?

The record shows several decisions that have unsettled green campaigners:

• Ministers diverted funding from the energy department to help meet defence funding targets, including money previously earmarked for energy efficiency schemes.
• Last month the government approved drilling at the Jackdaw gas field. Ministers argue it will minimise imports of higher emission fuels; campaigners criticised the move.
• A decision is still pending on Rosebank, the UK's largest known untapped oil field, located off the coast of Shetland.

The prime minister has also vowed to lead a "cost of living government" and to reindustrialise the economy. That dual pledge has prompted Westminster speculation that climate action could be demoted to deliver short-term relief on energy costs.

How firm are the targets?

Fahnbulleh insisted reducing carbon emissions "absolutely is a priority," pointing to this summer's droughts as evidence of the need to tackle global warming. But she conceded that Labour's target of getting 95% of Britain's electricity from clean power sources by 2030 was a "stretch."

On Monday, reports emerged that the government is considering weakening the electric vehicle mandate, which requires car manufacturers to phase out production of petrol and diesel cars by 2035. That would be a blow to the country's climate targets, and to the UK's claim of leadership on the issue, just as ministers head to Turkey for COP31, the UN's climate summit.

The scientific backdrop adds pressure. Scientists predict 2026 will be the hottest year on record. The UK recorded its highest-ever number of heatwaves this summer and suffered successive damaging wildfires, which the Met Office said climate change made 130 times more likely. Last month, while hosting the UK's first summit on wildfires, Andy Burnham acknowledged that "the summer we've just had is likely to be a more regular situation going forward."

Fahnbulleh's bet is that clean power can square the circle: lower bills and lower emissions from the same set of projects. The January price rise will test whether the public waits long enough to see it.