The new British Prime Minister presents her plan to resolve the energy crisis in the short and medium term
The new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, will set a cap on the rate for each unit of energy consumed by British households over the next two years, in such a way that the maximum annual cost of the bill of an average consumer household, which receives gas and electricity from the same supplier and pays by direct debit, from October 1 it will be about 2,890 euros.
His Government will also apply this measure to schools and universities, and to companies, but the time is limited to six months. A review of the energy needs of those subsidized and their measures to reduce consumption will decide at the end of the semester who will continue to benefit from the government’s intervention, which as a whole is estimated at some 170,000 million euros.
Currency markets have sold off sterling and the British currency has fallen against the dollar and euro. The reason would be the estimation of the speculators on the difficulties of the new Government of Truss, who replaced the resigned Boris Johnson on Tuesday. The new leader has confirmed in recent days that she will boost growth through tax cuts, deregulation and investment in infrastructure.
The net cost of the program will, however, be lower than the figure announced, because the guaranteed price will prevent the rise in inflation hitherto anticipated and will also reduce debt payments. Truss has indicated that his government will undertake reforms that affect the roots of the problem of energy prices, which would be, in addition to Putin’s policy, insufficient domestic production and the structure of the energy market.
Opposition
In this sense, he promised to annul the moratorium on gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing of bituminous rocks and promote a new draw for a hundred licenses for gas and oil exploration in the North Sea. The new government also wants to accelerate the production of small nuclear reactors.
The Labor opposition has criticized Truss for not charging new special taxes – they were already introduced by Johnson in May – on electricity companies, which are going to obtain extraordinary profits of some 200,000 million euros in the next two years, according to a study by the Ministry Treasury that has not been published.
The prime minister defends her decision. These benefits would allow the necessary investments to turn the United Kingdom into an energy exporting country in 2040. The leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, has read excerpts from texts by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, rejecting ‘fracking’ and the greater exploitation of the North Sea.
For Starmer, this hydrocarbon crisis must be corrected with policies to promote renewables and nuclear reactors. Both the Conservatives and Labor support the commitment to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
#Truss #opens #door #fracking #gas #North #Sea