:00:10. > :00:15.With energy bills biting harder than ever, is the Government's
:00:15. > :00:18.great energy gamble working? you're spending 10% of your
:00:18. > :00:23.disposable income and someone slaps on another 20% price increase, what
:00:23. > :00:27.do you do? You can't invent the money. What fate awaits the
:00:27. > :00:32.increasing number of people already struggling to keep the cold at bay?
:00:32. > :00:39.I'm really scared about this coming winter. Because, if it is really
:00:39. > :00:41.cold, what do we do? Do we put the heating on and not eat properly?
:00:41. > :00:46.Ministers blame forces beyond their control profit hungry companies and
:00:46. > :00:54.world gas prices. So why is the government so hooked on these when
:00:54. > :01:01.they cost so much money? And we uncover the strange tale of how
:01:02. > :01:04.Tony Blair saddled us with a very hefty bill. Perhaps he saw it as an
:01:05. > :01:08.important big gesture, but maybe lost track of the details such as
:01:08. > :01:16.the tens of billions of pounds that this was going to cost the UK
:01:16. > :01:26.consumers. Tonight - what's really fuelling your bill policy or
:01:26. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:50.We are power hungry, day and night we depend on energy to feed our
:01:50. > :02:00.economy and run our homes. But the bill for that vital spark is higher
:02:00. > :02:10.
:02:10. > :02:17.than ever, on average �1,345 per So is this price hike a painful
:02:17. > :02:19.blip or the start of an agonizing trend? To answer we'll need to
:02:19. > :02:29.reach behind the switch to understand the mechanics of the
:02:29. > :02:32.
:02:32. > :02:42.energy business and how politicians But first, it's getting chilly in
:02:42. > :02:46.
:02:46. > :02:56.Paula McCrudden lights the fire as usual, but it brings her little
:02:56. > :02:58.
:02:58. > :03:01.comfort. But just give me a feeling a few years back, how much did you
:03:01. > :03:04.worry about energy bills? I didn't. I honestly didn't give it a second
:03:05. > :03:08.thought. The bill used to come, pay it. Not a problem, you know. Those
:03:08. > :03:11.days have gone forever. It's a fear that you're going to get into
:03:11. > :03:14.trouble. You either have your heating on, and cut way back on the
:03:14. > :03:21.food, which we've already cut back on, or you don't have the heating
:03:21. > :03:26.on, and have a little bit extra for food. Paula is officially in fuel
:03:26. > :03:29.poverty, as more than 10% of her income is spent on fuel. She's one
:03:29. > :03:37.of over 6 million households in the same predicament the number rising
:03:37. > :03:40.daily. I mean what I do is, if I can cook two things in the oven,
:03:40. > :03:47.say today's dinner say it's a pie or something, and a stew, put them
:03:47. > :03:51.in at the same time so I don't have to put the oven on again tomorrow.
:03:51. > :03:54.You have to think of all sorts of ways to, you know, just to sort of
:03:54. > :03:56.cut back. Paula tries hard to reduce her bills. Monitoring her
:03:56. > :03:59.electricity usage online, she's shopped around for the best deals
:03:59. > :04:06.and even made her home energy efficient. But still, things have
:04:06. > :04:11.got so bad she's even changing her winter wardrobe. So what have we
:04:11. > :04:15.got here? This is my winter wear. This is my little furry boots that
:04:15. > :04:21.I wear round the house to keep me warm. What I call my snugly, which
:04:21. > :04:31.you sort of put on. And it leaves your arms free, it wraps around you
:04:31. > :04:31.
:04:31. > :04:35.basically. It's quite warm. Not the highest of fashion! No, no, not
:04:35. > :04:40.really. But essential in your view? Yes, yeah, I'd rather look silly
:04:40. > :04:47.than get cold, yeah. Yeah. While we may shiver, parts of the
:04:47. > :04:53.economy quake in fear at high energy prices. This is Steelite,
:04:53. > :05:00.one of the few surviving potteries in Stoke. They make robust crockery
:05:00. > :05:02.for hotels and cruise liners, most of them abroad. Well the major
:05:02. > :05:06.consumer of energy is kilns. Obviously you need to fire the
:05:06. > :05:12.kilns at high temperatures in order to form them into the vast array
:05:12. > :05:14.that you can see around here. closely do you keep an eye on the
:05:14. > :05:17.cost of energy? This business checks our energy prices every
:05:17. > :05:21.single morning without fail. Because it's so important. It's a
:05:21. > :05:25.huge cost to the company. It's over �2.5 million. We need to keep a
:05:25. > :05:31.very close eye on it. But their success in creating both exports
:05:31. > :05:35.and jobs could be shattered by the fuel bill. This industry, this city,
:05:35. > :05:39.has lost lots of companies over the years. They continue to go. And
:05:39. > :05:41.unless the conditions are right, that will continue to happen.
:05:41. > :05:51.government appears keen to deflect anger over price rises towards
:05:51. > :05:58.energy companies. It's simply not fair that big energy companies can
:05:58. > :06:00.push their prices up for the vast majority of their consumers. We are
:06:00. > :06:07.making them be competitive. They're permanently being watched to make
:06:07. > :06:11.sure it is a competitive market. But their policy actions commit us
:06:11. > :06:21.to a hefty price tag - a massive switchover to homegrown low carbon
:06:21. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:28.energy, more protected from global fuel price swings. But it's a
:06:28. > :06:34.gamble playing with new technology, international markets and our home
:06:34. > :06:44.energy habits. One thing is for certain. Up front it's perilously
:06:44. > :06:47.
:06:47. > :06:52.expensive. And it's racking up our bills. At stake is �200 billion
:06:52. > :06:59.over our money, which will be spent to revolutionise the way we power
:06:59. > :07:05.our lives. Primarily, less dirty coal and more clean wind. If we
:07:05. > :07:15.spin forward to 2020, the government wants electricity from
:07:15. > :07:16.
:07:16. > :07:22.renewables to jump from seven-30% of output. But here is the problem.
:07:22. > :07:27.The traditional power generators, which are being cut back, are cheap,
:07:27. > :07:33.costing �78 per megawatt hour to feed into the grid, whereas
:07:33. > :07:42.electricity from new sources like offshore wind cost �170, more than
:07:42. > :07:47.double that amount. Who will have to find the money? We will. Much of
:07:47. > :07:52.it spent around the coast on hardware at sea on jobs on the land,
:07:52. > :08:00.so I went to Grimsby with Sarjit Sambi from Centrica, the UK's
:08:00. > :08:04.biggest energy generator. Offshore generation has two big advantages -
:08:04. > :08:12.the wind blows stronger, and local objections are weaker because
:08:12. > :08:22.nobody lives there. Centrica has these two wind farms off the
:08:22. > :08:32.Lincolnshire coast and they are not small. Two wind farms combined
:08:32. > :08:33.
:08:33. > :08:40.cover an area of around 50 square, kilometres. A each turbines is
:08:40. > :08:45.about 130 metres from sea-level to the top. To put that into
:08:45. > :08:50.perspective, the London Eye is about 120 metres so they would
:08:50. > :08:55.overshadow that somewhat. Offshore wind is pretty unique in the
:08:55. > :08:59.renewables family in the UK. It is a technology where you can see how
:08:59. > :09:04.you can venture near the cost down over time. It takes advantage of
:09:04. > :09:08.our very significant skills and capabilities in terms of Offshore
:09:08. > :09:13.Engineering, and we also have a great natural resource around the
:09:13. > :09:18.UK are ales that we can develop. Britain leads the world in offshore
:09:18. > :09:25.wind. Building turbines is pricey, wind is free, but there is still
:09:25. > :09:28.maintenance. It is eye-watering the expensive, and against government
:09:28. > :09:34.forecasts that those costs will fall, the cost of offshore wind
:09:34. > :09:43.keeps going up. A even the former government chief scientific adviser
:09:43. > :09:49.has concerns. Offshore wind is extraordinarily expensive and I
:09:49. > :09:53.would say we need to move cautiously down that route. There
:09:53. > :09:59.are days in the winter across the British Isles when there is
:09:59. > :10:02.effectively no wind to drive the turbines, so they always have to be
:10:02. > :10:07.duplicated by gas-fired turbines which can be switched on and off to
:10:07. > :10:12.cover these days of stillness. Alongside existing turbines here,
:10:13. > :10:17.you can see some new Stubbs growing out of the sea and that is where
:10:17. > :10:26.the new blades will be. To give an idea of the government's ambition,
:10:26. > :10:31.they will need four new feels like this each year for 10 years to hit
:10:31. > :10:37.their target. To make this happen, they need the energy companies.
:10:37. > :10:42.Before, we had a very simple concept of producing energy at the
:10:42. > :10:47.lowest cost. Today, we have multiple objectives. We need to
:10:47. > :10:52.maintain security of supply, we need to reduce carbon emissions.
:10:52. > :10:57.Ultimately, the �200 billion of investment will feed through to
:10:57. > :11:01.consumer bills. But could the energy industry pay more? The
:11:02. > :11:07.regulator Ofgem recently reported rising profit margins across the
:11:07. > :11:12.sector. Centrica made nearly �1.3 billion in the first half of this
:11:12. > :11:17.year. On top of that the Energy Secretary has accused the big six
:11:17. > :11:23.generators of predatory pricing. What do you make of Chris Huhne's
:11:23. > :11:30.accusations of predatory pricing? That is something which can't be
:11:30. > :11:35.substantiated. We don't do it. Since 2001, 17 inquiries all giving
:11:35. > :11:39.the UK energy industry a clean bill of health. The government knows
:11:39. > :11:44.wind technology will stall unless energy companies can make good
:11:44. > :11:48.money, so Chris Huhne has a difficult balancing act. Talking
:11:48. > :11:54.tough for the public, but tender for the boardroom. I will be on the
:11:54. > :11:58.side of the consumer, making sure there is no excess profit in there.
:11:58. > :12:06.They are not the Salvation Army, they obviously have to make a
:12:06. > :12:12.respectable return in a free market. So, where might bills be in the
:12:12. > :12:15.next few years? Chris Huhne would get long odds on his department's
:12:15. > :12:21.prediction that fuel payments could drop by the end of the decade. In
:12:21. > :12:27.fact, they are on their Rome. Predictions are fogged by unknowns,
:12:27. > :12:34.but the most recent forecast says your combined gas and electricity
:12:34. > :12:41.bill in 2020 will be �1,239, �100 lower than today. Citigroup thinks
:12:41. > :12:46.that total could be up to 50% higher, reaching �2,000. Research
:12:46. > :12:54.by a uSwitch.com suggests we will be paying an average of �3,202 by
:12:54. > :12:58.2020, nearly tripling your current bill. Whatever the precise level of
:12:58. > :13:04.your future bills, one reason for there acceleration skyward is
:13:04. > :13:09.fairly straightforward. Sadly greener energy is not cheap energy
:13:09. > :13:14.and we are paying for the scientist' demands and the
:13:14. > :13:18.politicians'' promises on climate change. One promise in particular
:13:18. > :13:24.lies behind the Windrush, which some believed was a multi-million
:13:24. > :13:33.pound gaffe. It was taken in 2007 by Tony Blair in Brussels, three
:13:33. > :13:38.months before he stood down. This was the decision made at a meeting
:13:38. > :13:44.of the heads of state of the European Union in Brussels. Tony
:13:44. > :13:48.Blair was a very keen advocate of action for climate change. On the
:13:49. > :13:53.table was Britain's commitment to renewable power by 2020. A senior
:13:54. > :13:57.civil servant we have spoken to says Tony Blair was advised that
:13:57. > :14:01.15% of renewable electricity was the maximum we could manage, but he
:14:01. > :14:05.emerged having signed a radically different promise, virtually
:14:05. > :14:11.tripling the challenge by agreeing to 15% of all energy being
:14:12. > :14:15.renewable. Now including heating for homes and factories, fuel for
:14:15. > :14:21.vehicles on top of electricity. In short, everything that used his
:14:21. > :14:28.power. The expectation before we went into the meeting that day was
:14:28. > :14:33.that we would be aiming for 15% not on energy but on electricity on the
:14:33. > :14:39.grid. My role in the Treasury was to try to bear down on the cost of
:14:39. > :14:45.energy policies, both for the taxpayer and consumer. Suddenly the
:14:45. > :14:49.game seemed to change. For lino is there was a meeting that carried on
:14:49. > :14:53.until 3 o'clock in the morning, very tired people in the meeting,
:14:53. > :14:58.and perhaps there was an argument about whether we should be
:14:58. > :15:02.electricity on the grid or total electricity. When the official we
:15:02. > :15:12.have spoken to heard Tony Blair had committed to the higher energy
:15:12. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:18.Perhaps he saw it as an important big gesture, but maybe lost track
:15:18. > :15:21.of the details such as the tens of billions of pounds that this was
:15:21. > :15:26.going to cost the UK consumers. you think it's possible that this
:15:26. > :15:31.was you would actually a gaffe? could be. It could have been? But
:15:31. > :15:35.was it a bad gaffe? At the time for me it was a surprise. Was it a good
:15:35. > :15:41.target? It may well have been a good target. Tony Blair's office
:15:41. > :15:48.told us it wasn't a gaffe, but a decision to protect the environment
:15:48. > :15:53.and help energy security. Mistake or master stroke, it's now part of
:15:53. > :15:59.a pricy target. Our estimate of how much needs to be spent to hit the
:15:59. > :16:06.target is about �25 billion a year. That is one and a third Crossrails
:16:06. > :16:12.a year, two-and-a-half Olympic Games a year, 2.5 times the budget
:16:12. > :16:19.of NASA. In fact, we could say goodbye to wind mills and launch
:16:19. > :16:25.our own Mars mission if we wanted to for the same amount of money.
:16:25. > :16:29.Back on earth, here's what passes for Mission Control - in the quest
:16:29. > :16:32.to rewire Britain. Well, the information on this screen is
:16:32. > :16:37.becoming increasingly important. It shows the weather and particularly
:16:37. > :16:42.the wind speed across the country. However, it's generated, National
:16:42. > :16:46.Grid's job is to make sure there's always power behind the switch. And
:16:46. > :16:52.this is the second big element fuelling your rising electricity
:16:52. > :17:00.bill - �17 billion to wire up the changing network. Alan Smart from
:17:00. > :17:03.National Grid is paid to make sure our tellies, torst and kettles keep
:17:03. > :17:08.running. For a conventional generator, you know when it's going
:17:08. > :17:12.to start generating. You know how quickly it's going to increase its
:17:12. > :17:19.output. With wind, it's when the wind arrives, and it's when the
:17:19. > :17:23.wind changes, and it's when the wind goes away. And there's another
:17:23. > :17:27.problem with new forms of power - geography. Traditionally, the power
:17:27. > :17:31.stations have been in the centre of the country. New power stations,
:17:31. > :17:36.new nuclear power stations around the coast, wind farms offshore -
:17:36. > :17:43.all of that power is coming at the edge of the power system. We've got
:17:43. > :17:50.to transport that power reliably to the centres of demand. That means
:17:50. > :17:54.more of these - the National Grid is planning 214 miles of pylons
:17:54. > :17:58.spread through many parts of the country from Suffolk to Cumbria.
:17:58. > :18:05.Down in the Somerset levels, the steel giants will stride through an
:18:05. > :18:14.area of outstanding natural beauty. The new nuclear reactor at Hinkley
:18:14. > :18:18.Point is pointless without connection to the grid.
:18:18. > :18:21.And this consequence of our energy revolution is not only expensive,
:18:21. > :18:25.but ugly, triggering a fierce back lack. You care about the
:18:25. > :18:28.environment. You care about the countryside, and you care about the
:18:28. > :18:36.next generation, but we don't want to leave them a landscape that is
:18:36. > :18:40.spoiled by pylons. APPLAUSE
:18:40. > :18:45.These protesters, like many communities, facing new pylon runs,
:18:46. > :18:50.want the cables underground. In the end, this sounds like a
:18:50. > :18:54.classic "You don't want this in your view." It couldn't be more not
:18:54. > :18:59.in my backyard. No, this is a totally national issue. This is
:18:59. > :19:03.coming across the whole of the country. What we want to do is what
:19:03. > :19:07.is right in the 21st century. And by right you mean invisible, in
:19:07. > :19:13.effect, don't you? Yeah, put them out of sight. We do that in our
:19:13. > :19:17.water mains and our gas mains, why not with electricity? National Grid
:19:17. > :19:20.describe their position on burying the cables as neutral, and they're
:19:20. > :19:28.still consulting with the local community, but they want people to
:19:28. > :19:33.be aware that undergrounding will cost us all. For this power line
:19:33. > :19:37.through Somerset, to underground in its entirety, would cost around a
:19:37. > :19:41.pound for every domestic consumer's bill for the next 40 years. You're
:19:41. > :19:46.talking about �100 million as opposed to a billion underground,
:19:46. > :19:51.billions - a lot of money. So now we have two steps to higher bills,
:19:51. > :19:56.pricy green energy, costly cables and here's a third. A quarter of
:19:56. > :20:01.our power stations are not old, they need replacing, including the
:20:01. > :20:07.nuclear plant at Hinckley point. How far beneath my feet is the
:20:07. > :20:11.actual hot stuff? We're about ten to 15 metres beneath here, so
:20:11. > :20:15.that's where the nuclear reaction is taking place. It's a strange mix
:20:15. > :20:19.of the high-tech and quite old, isn't it? You look around and see
:20:19. > :20:24.the telephones and things that look like they're from a period drama.
:20:24. > :20:28.But over the last 35 years, the important nuclear safety relate
:20:29. > :20:38.equipment has been constantly refurbished. Nuclear power carries
:20:38. > :20:43.a set of unique risks. It carries an extraordinarily high tion risk,
:20:43. > :20:47.a high safety risk as we've just witnessed in Fukishima, so if you
:20:47. > :20:51.have an accident due to an earthquake and tsunami in Japan,
:20:51. > :20:55.and in Germany, they decided to instantly close a whole set of
:20:55. > :20:59.nuclear power stations. That means it's very difficult to price that
:21:00. > :21:04.risk, and therefore very difficult for investers to get involved.
:21:04. > :21:09.despite these high potential costs and existing controversy, nuclear
:21:09. > :21:14.power is gaining support even from the green wing - if grudgingly.
:21:14. > :21:18.don't actually like nuclear power, and I would much rather we didn't
:21:18. > :21:21.have to have nuclear power. But the problem is that I like the
:21:21. > :21:25.alternatives even less, and it's become clear to me that as much as
:21:25. > :21:29.I dislike nuclear power, if we don't replace our nuclear power
:21:29. > :21:33.stations, we'll have no option but to invest in more fossil fuel.
:21:33. > :21:38.Government is proposing a guaranteed price for nuclear. It's
:21:38. > :21:42.a sweetener to encourage building, so they meet their carbon-cutting
:21:42. > :21:48.targets. We'll pay for the sugar, but do we know that? The Government
:21:48. > :21:55.can't be passive about any of this. If it's going to invest heavily in
:21:55. > :21:58.new wind, it's going to have to make the case for it. If it's going
:21:58. > :22:03.to invest heavily in nuclear, it's going to have to make the political
:22:03. > :22:06.case for it. It can't pretend that it can just drift along and expect
:22:06. > :22:11.people to accept stuff when they're not being told why it's a good idea
:22:11. > :22:14.to accept it. So is Government in denial about their heavy burden on
:22:14. > :22:17.their policies will put on consumers? You are reducing the
:22:17. > :22:20.production of the cheaper sources of electricity and Government
:22:20. > :22:26.policy is going to increase production from the more expensive.
:22:26. > :22:30.That's a fact, isn't it? It's not. Well, it is a fact. The figures are
:22:30. > :22:34.in your report. It's not a fact because the key point is it's not
:22:34. > :22:38.just now that we have to worry about. When you make investments in
:22:38. > :22:44.energy, you're making invest in thes for ten, for 20, for 30 years.
:22:44. > :22:50.What I can say and give the assurance is at any given point the
:22:50. > :22:55.total effect of Government's policy including the energy savings
:22:55. > :23:03.reduction is going to be able to make sure bills are lower than they
:23:03. > :23:08.otherwise would be. That's a promise? Overall it's an assurance
:23:08. > :23:13.that we can, we can. So on that vexed issue of future energy bills,
:23:13. > :23:18.let's look at what we've been dealt. Three of a kind - the high cost of
:23:18. > :23:23.low carbon, expensive story station renewal and pricy pylon runs to
:23:23. > :23:26.hook them up. But Chris Huhne says it's also dealing with trump cards
:23:26. > :23:30.- first those energy saving policies to help us cut the bill.
:23:30. > :23:34.And second, protection from soaring global energy prices. But is it
:23:34. > :23:38.really going to make energy affordable? There's room for most
:23:38. > :23:42.homes to save energy and money, but enough to offset price hikes? This
:23:42. > :23:45.is the Boaty family from St Albans. I have started to become the grumpy
:23:45. > :23:48.old man. I go around turning the lights off and everything and
:23:48. > :23:52.having a goo at the children for leaving things on and sort of
:23:52. > :23:56.coming back and saying, you know, the house is lit up like... A
:23:56. > :23:59.Christmas tree. In fact, Paul's become so switched-on about
:23:59. > :24:04.minimising his heating bill, he's taken fuelling the house into his
:24:04. > :24:09.own hands. We take? Dog for a walk in the woods. We pick up suitable
:24:09. > :24:13.pieces of wood lying down, bring it back, and we use it to burn in the
:24:13. > :24:20.winter. This would be a nice piece to have. It saves money. It's free.
:24:20. > :24:27.It's lying in the woods. Yeah, it's just here lying around. At home
:24:27. > :24:32.alongside the woodpile, they have to lagged the loft, double glazed
:24:32. > :24:37.and dwell in the sofa sleeping bags but even that's not enough. How are
:24:37. > :24:40.you finding paying your bill, your energy bills? I think we're finding
:24:40. > :24:44.it is becoming increasingly a struggle, a concern. I think the
:24:44. > :24:50.days of cheap energy are over, and the sooner everybody realises that,
:24:50. > :24:54.and we start planning for it, the better. Stealing ashore under the
:24:54. > :24:59.cover of darkness is the other threat Chris Huhne is pledging to
:24:59. > :25:09.fight - pricy foreign gas. He says we'll need less if we grow our own
:25:09. > :25:09.
:25:09. > :25:13.green power. One challenge is to get us in a
:25:13. > :25:17.position where we're less vulnerable to the sort of big price
:25:17. > :25:20.increases for oil and gas that we've seen over the last year. If
:25:21. > :25:26.we can get to a situation where we're using less energy and the
:25:26. > :25:31.energy that we are using is coming from renewable and nuclear sources
:25:31. > :25:34.rather than just from fossil fuels, then we're going to be less
:25:34. > :25:39.vulnerable to that sort of buffeting.
:25:39. > :25:42.On this tanker is liquefied natural gas from Qatar. Now the ship is
:25:42. > :25:47.safely docked, they can begin piping off the gas, which at this
:25:47. > :25:51.stage is still a super-cooled liquid actually flowing through
:25:51. > :25:56.these pipes. It will take about 24 hours to discharge the whole vessel
:25:56. > :26:04.before the gas flows off down those pipes, and there's enough in here
:26:04. > :26:08.to heat nearly five million homes for a week. But could Chris Huhne's
:26:09. > :26:12.foe turn out to be more friendly in the future? There are good reasons
:26:12. > :26:16.to think that the gas and even perhaps the oil price may well fall.
:26:16. > :26:20.That's good news for customers, but if we're pushing out of those areas,
:26:20. > :26:29.particularly out of gas, into a crash course on wind, given the
:26:30. > :26:35.cost of that wind, the bills are going to go up a lot. But wouldn't
:26:35. > :26:42.dashing back into gas mean abandoning our climate change
:26:42. > :26:45.goals? Not according to accountancy firm KPMG, who explained in a
:26:45. > :26:51.report out this week that by moving rapidly from coal to gas and
:26:51. > :26:58.growing wind more slowly, we could hit our carbon targets that save
:26:58. > :27:01.the public �34 billion, saving the world for less. We need to get into
:27:01. > :27:04.a position where we can look consumers in the eye and say we
:27:04. > :27:08.have spent the least amount of money possible to give you power
:27:08. > :27:11.whilst still doing the things we need to do for the benefit of all
:27:11. > :27:14.around carbon and around renewables targets, and I think our research
:27:14. > :27:17.would indicate that there is a gap there, that we could spend less
:27:18. > :27:22.money. Therefore, I'm not sure we could look the consumers in the eye
:27:22. > :27:25.right now and honestly say we're spending the least amounts we need
:27:25. > :27:28.to possible. But the man orchestrating the
:27:28. > :27:31.gamble isn't blinking. Government policy overall taking the low
:27:31. > :27:37.carbon and energy-saving policy will have a lowering effect on
:27:37. > :27:41.bills. Our bills may go up because of world market prices, because of
:27:41. > :27:44.the need for investment and all the rest of it, but the overall effect
:27:44. > :27:47.of Government policy would be to lower bills compared with what
:27:47. > :27:51.would happen otherwise. In my view, the Government are storing up
:27:51. > :27:53.tremendous problems for themselves unless they are entirely open,
:27:53. > :27:59.entirely honest with consumers about what this is costing today
:27:59. > :28:03.and what it will be costing in five, ten and 20 years' time cos it seems
:28:03. > :28:06.to me that the consumers will not pay these higher bills unless they
:28:06. > :28:13.fully understand what's being spent, why it's being spent.
:28:13. > :28:18.Government's next chance to be straight with bill payers like
:28:18. > :28:25.Paula McCrudden and the boaty family comes this month in the
:28:25. > :28:29.energy statement which includes a forecast of future bills. How do
:28:29. > :28:34.the policymakers think that in sitting around in a house where
:28:34. > :28:38.you're spending 10% of your income on gas and electricity to heat your
:28:38. > :28:44.house that you're going to be ablepy with another X per cent on