Kwarteng pins energy hopes on mild winter

KWASI KWARTENG has told energy bosses that a mild winter could protect UK households from rising energy bills.

The Business Secretary shared internal long-term forecasts with energy companies that showed the Met Office is preparing for a wet and mild winter.

The hope among his officials is that people will not have to turn up their heating and fears about a spike in bills will not come to pass.

The energy price cap – which sets limits on what suppliers can charge customers on default tariffs – went up by £139 this month to push average bills up to £1,277 a year. Analysts believe it could increase by another £400 when it is next reviewed in April. At a meeting this week energy firms asked Mr Kwarteng for any long-term data from the Met Office, which his department funds.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Kwarteng showed the energy suppliers a Met Office briefing which said that “for the late winter period from January to February 2022, the most likely scenario is for an unsettled period of wet, windy and mild spells”.

One official said: “Our plan to protect consumers isn’t based on weather outlooks. Whatever happens, the energy price cap will remain in place to shield consumers from high global gas prices.”

Officials in Mr Kwarteng’s department hope that if the winter is warmer then demand for gas will not be as high as expected.

However Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, said the discussion about the weather showed that Mr Kwarteng was “crossing his fingers” for a warmer winter rather than dealing with the problem.

He said: “This is a new low for government energy policy. Reduced to crossing his fingers for a mild winter, Kwasi Kwarteng is showing just how much a decade of inaction from the Government has left us vulnerable.”

Energy companies are in talks with Ofgem to head off collapse as crisis grips the market. So far nine suppliers have gone bust with another four said to be on the brink of going out of business.