Energy prices in the UK: ‘Do I heat? Then there’s less to eat’

Rising living costs are causing problems for the British: electricity, petrol and gas are forcing them to save. Among other things, Prime Minister Johnson wants to expand nuclear energy – but that doesn’t help much in the short term.

Sarah from Birmingham has two children and lives on welfare. She already pays almost 80 euros per week for electricity and gas. For the welfare recipient this means: energy poverty. One evening her daughter said it was so cold, says Sarah – “so I had to decide: do I heat? Then there will be less to eat.” Sarah turned on the heater.

Gas and electricity prices will continue to rise from today. A state regulatory authority is raising the price cap for utility companies because world market prices have risen massively. An average household will then pay around 2,400 euros a year for electricity and gas, around 850 euros more than before. Experts fear that 1.3 million people will slide into poverty as a result.

Britain is experiencing a cost of living crisis. Prime Minister Boris Johnson knows there is very little he can do about high electricity, petrol and gas prices in the short term. The government announced aid, for example lowering the petrol tax. Johnson is working on an energy plan to be presented in the coming days to lower prices and reduce dependence on Russian gas.

Produce nuclear energy, oil and gas yourself

After discussions with investors and energy companies, it became known that Johnson would like to have new nuclear power plants built. A quarter of the electricity demand is to be generated from nuclear energy from 2050; currently it is 16 percent.

The economist Dieter Helm, who researches energy markets and the shift towards renewable energies at the University of Oxford, warns against overly ambitious plans: At the beginning of her term of office, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced that she would build ten new nuclear power plants, one per year. The first reactor was completed after 14 years. One should not plan too ambitiously, concludes Helm.

Johnson also announced that he would produce more gas and oil in the North Sea again. Environmentalists criticize that. Helm, on the other hand, advocates the promotion: “The British economy – like the German economy – is 80 percent dependent on fossil fuels. As long as we don’t change that, it’s nonsense not to promote gas and to say: We’ll import it .”

Gas prices have long been underestimated

But Johnson also wants to massively expand renewable energies. Economics Minister Kwasi Kwarteng is negotiating with companies on how the area of ​​the installed solar power systems can be multiplied. Wind turbines are being installed on the British coast, and further wind farms are also to be built in rural areas. The plans are provoking opposition from MPs, who fear voter wrath.

The economist Helm complains that governments have been assuming low gas prices for far too long. However, gas can hardly be replaced in the transition to a CO2-neutral economy. Low-income families must be supported: “We should tell people the truth from the start. We end up paying the bills because we have a moral obligation to stop climate change.”

In the short term, people need to save energy. Lowering the temperature in buildings by two degrees already has a big effect. Climate experts also criticize that the government is doing too little to improve the insulation of residential buildings.