Halting green levy on bills will have ‘marginal’ impact only, says Sturgeon

Plans by would-be prime minister Liz Truss to halt green energy levies are the “wrong approach” and would have a “marginal” impact only on household bills, Nicola Sturgeon has insisted.

Instead of such a measure, the Scottish First Minister insisted Westminster needs to act to “stop the misery that will otherwise be inflicted on families” as prices rise.

Ms Sturgeon called for a “significant intervention” from the UK Government to “stop energy bills rising in the way that is currently projected”.

She spoke out after a warning that energy prices could spike at as much as £6,000 per year for the average household from next April.

To try to help households in the midst of the cost of living crisis, Ms Truss, regarded as the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as PM next month, has proposed plans to suspend the green levy – an environmental charge added to energy bills.

On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon will host a summit of energy companies to discuss more action to protect households on low incomes.

The First Minister spoke to journalists after speaking at a meeting of offshore industry leaders in Aberdeen, discussing the ScotWind renewable energy supply chain.

Asked about Ms Truss’ proposal, she said: “I think we’ve got to be careful in the face of this crisis not to reach for the wrong approach, or for approaches that politicians might make sound significant but aren’t.

“In terms of the scale of the increases in energy bills, that proposal is marginal at best.”

The First Minister continued: “What needs to happen is a significant intervention to stop energy bills rising in the way that is currently projected.

“What should happen is a cancellation of the next increase in the energy price cap and then work between Government and energy companies to determine how that is funded over the long term.

“The first responsibility of the UK Government right now should be to stop the misery that will otherwise be inflicted on families happening.”

Ahead of the energy summit on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said it would focus on making sure companies were doing everything possible to mitigate the impact of price rises.

She said this would include an approach to ensure customers were not disconnected over winter.

Ms Sturgeon said: “The Scottish Government is also working through an emergency budget review and assessment of other levers at our disposal to try to make sure we are doing everything possible.

“But the scale of this, and the reality in terms of where the levers of power lie and where the access to resources lie, means that we need to see the UK Government really get its head out of the sand and start to take real action here.”