Government plans cap on renewable energy revenues

Renewable vigor generators and atomic powerfulness plants could person their revenues capped nether a caller authorities plan.

The determination could deed the profits vigor companies, similar SSE and Scottish Power, make from record-high wholesale powerfulness prices.

Ministers accidental the connection would guarantee consumers and businesses wage a just terms for energy.

But vigor bosses accidental the program - for which determination are fewer details - could enactment disconnected investors.

Currently successful the UK, wholesale energy prices are acceptable by gas-fired generation.

With the terms of state rocketing successful caller months, immoderate atomic powerfulness plants and star and upwind farms person made large profits.

This is antithetic astatine newer facilities, which nutrient powerfulness astatine an agreed price.

The impermanent cap, which volition bounds the magnitude generators tin make, is acceptable to beryllium introduced successful the House of Commons connected Wednesday arsenic portion of the Energy Prices Bill.

There is small item astir however the gross headdress would work, but the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it would motorboat a consultation shortly.

It is expected the authorities could travel into unit successful England and Wales astatine the commencement of adjacent year, portion the authorities is consulting with the Scottish authorities to spot if it tin widen there.

The authorities would besides let the rules to travel into unit successful Northern Ireland.

Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "Businesses and consumers crossed the UK should wage a just terms for energy.

"With prices spiralling arsenic a effect of Putin's abhorrent penetration of Ukraine, the authorities is taking swift and decisive action.

"We person been moving with low-carbon generators to find a solution that volition guarantee consumers are not paying importantly much for energy generated from renewables and nuclear."

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said: "Our actions volition mean that vigor bills for the emblematic household volition beryllium fractional what they would person been this winter.

"We are protecting people, holding down ostentation and preventing Putin's vigor terms hike from causing agelong word harm to our system by supporting businesses."

But Labour claimed the connection showed the Conservatives has accepted the rule of a windfall taxation connected excess profits of energy generators.

Shadow Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "After months of telling the state they were utterly opposed to the rule of a windfall tax, they person been dragged kicking and screaming to instrumentality it."

Leaders successful the vigor assemblage warned immoderate caller measurement indispensable not enactment disconnected concern and should beryllium comparable to different countries.

Dan McGrail, main enforcement of RenewableUK, said that the determination risks sending the "wrong signal" to investors successful renewable vigor successful the UK, and skewing concern towards fossil fuels.

Keith Anderson, main enforcement of Scottish Power, said it was profoundly disquieted astatine the proposition renewable generators are making "extraordinary profits".

He said: "It's disappointing that specified a important marketplace involution by the authorities has travel with truthful small detail, each this does is make uncertainty.

"This situation has been caused by the outgo of state and it's unusual the projected solution is to headdress the terms of low-carbon procreation and to permission the state assemblage untouched."