{"id":1807937,"date":"2023-01-17T07:35:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1807937"},"modified":"2023-01-17T07:36:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:36:24","slug":"energy-boss-says-high-prices-are-here-to-stay-thanks-to-net-zero-and-windfall-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/energy-boss-says-high-prices-are-here-to-stay-thanks-to-net-zero-and-windfall-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Boss Says High Prices Are Here to Stay Thanks to Net Zero and Windfall Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fenergy-boss-says-high-prices-are-here-to-stay-thanks-to-net-zero-and-windfall-taxes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1807937&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>Energy bills will remain higher for years, the boss of one of Europe\u2019s biggest gas companies has warned.<\/p>\n<p>Equinor Chief Executive Anders Opedal told the BBC that the cost of governments\u2019 attempt to reach \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-net-zero\">net zero<\/a>\u201d Price drops will be difficult due to emissions targets and windfall tax on energy firms.<\/p>\n<p>Norway\u2019s Equinor is one of the biggest producers of gas in the world, and supplies much of Europe\u2019s energy needs.<\/p>\n<p>The current energy crisis has seen bills for the average British household rise from around \u00a31,300 ($1,586) to \u00a32,500 ($3,050).<\/p>\n<p>The UK government\u2019s energy support package has capped the prices at relatively low levels. Without the support, the average annual household energy bill would have been \u00a34,279 ($5,222) in the last three months of 2022.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4369388\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/29\/North-sea-gas-1200x755.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4369388\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/North-sea-gas-600x377-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"377\"   style=\"display:none\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4369388\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/North-sea-gas-600x377-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"377\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> The Total Culzean platform is pictured on the North Sea, about 45 miles (70 kilometres) east of the Aberdeen, Scotland\u2019s northeast coast, on April 8, 2019. (Andy Buchanan\/AFP via Getty Images<\/figure>\n<p>Opedal indicated that prices will remain high for years to follow, but they will fall from an extreme level as the market changes.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cWe see a rewiring of the whole energy system in Europe in particular after the gas from Russia was taken away. We require huge amounts more renewables. The industry must be done in a completely new way. This will require hydrogen and other such things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will require a lot of investment and these investments need to be paid. So I would assume that energy bills will maybe be slightly higher than in the past, but not as volatile and high as they are today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The energy boss also added: \u201cI think we need to treat energy as something that is not abundant. It actually has a value. I think we\u2019ve had a lot of cheap energy in the past and we\u2019ve probably wasted some of it. So, to make sure that we are making the right investments everyone wants to use as little energy as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Net Zero Plans are expensive<\/h2>\n<p>The UK has adopted a policy of net zero by 2050. This was enacted by the Conservative government. \u201cBuild Back Greener\u201d To decarbonize all parts of the UK&#8217;s economy.<\/p>\n<p>According to estimates by the UK\u2019s Climate Change Committee in 2019, the annual cost of achieving net zero could increase over time and reach around 1 to 2 percent of GDP in 2050.<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s National Audit Office (NAO) said in December 2020 that the government\u2019s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 is a \u201ccolossal challenge\u201d That could be. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/uk-climate-pledge-to-cost-hundreds-of-billions-of-pounds-watchdog_3605209.html\">cost hundreds of billions of pounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to a YouGov poll, November 2022 saw a decrease in the number of people who exclude them. \u201cdon\u2019t knows,\u201d Respondents wanted a 62 percent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/over-60-percent-of-uk-wants-referendum-on-net-zero-carbon-policy-poll_4889248.html\">referendum on UK\u2019s net zero policy<\/a> Compared with 58 per cent who were asked the exact same question in 2021, just before the COP26 climate summit.<\/p>\n<p>Car26, a group which commissioned the poll is currently campaigning for a referendum to net zero and a pause on carbon-related regulations, until such a ballot can be held.<\/p>\n<p>Car26 reported that in all demographics there was more support for a referendum than opposition.<\/p>\n<p>An online survey was conducted between Nov. 21-22 and asked 1,661 respondents \u201cTo what extent do you support or oppose holding a national referendum to decide whether or not the UK pursues a Net Zero Carbon policy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Excludes \u201cdon\u2019t knows,\u201d 66 percent of 2019 Labour voters backed a survey, compared to 60 percent of Liberal Democrat voters or 56 percent of Conservative voters.<\/p>\n<p>Only 15% of Lib Dem voters were most interested in the election. \u201cdon\u2019t knows,\u201d Comparable to 25 percent for Labour, and 24 percent for Tories<\/p>\n<p>Remainers and Leavers voted for a net zero referendum with 58 percent and 61%, respectively. Both sexes supported the net zero referendum with 62 per cent support.<\/p>\n<h2>Windfall Tax<\/h2>\n<p>Charges for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-windfall-tax\">windfall tax<\/a> Another factor that influences prices over the long-term is energy companies<\/p>\n<p>Opposition parties proposed the idea of a windfall income tax on energy companies. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-energy-prices\">energy prices<\/a> Following the Russian invasion Ukraine in February 2022, markets rose significantly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-rishi-sunak\">Rishi Sunak<\/a>The then chancellor at the Exchequer, Jeremy Sullivan, initially opposed the idea, warning of the negative impact it would have on future investment.<\/p>\n<p>But he was later forced to impose the tax to fund a \u00a315 billion emergency support package to tackle the impact of energy inflation on British households.<\/p>\n<p>On May 26, 2022, Sunak announced a 25 percent profit levy on oil and gas giants, which the government expected to generate \u00a35 billion in tax revenues.<\/p>\n<p>After Sunak became prime Minister, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt increased Sunak&#8217;s windfall tax to 35% and imposed a 45% levy for electricity generators. In the autumn budget, Sunak also reduced the allowance for investment by energy producers.<\/p>\n<p>At a meeting held in Edinburgh on Dec. 9, UK energy producers complained to the chancellor that the government\u2019s extension of the Energy Profits Levy was \u201ca tax too far.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hunt stated that he needed to make \u201cdifficult decisions\u201d Those with broad shoulders were asked to pay more.<\/p>\n<p><em>Owen Evans and PA Media contributed this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-alexander-zhang\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-10-at-2.30.01-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Alexander Zhang\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Energy bills will remain higher for years, the boss of one of Europe\u2019s biggest gas companies has warned. Equinor Chief Executive Anders Opedal told the BBC that the cost of governments\u2019 attempt to reach \u201cnet zero\u201d Price drops will be difficult due to emissions targets and windfall tax on energy firms. Norway\u2019s Equinor is one &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1807940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5458,8650,4486,4590,3819,6680,10964,15199],"class_list":["post-1807937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bongino","tag-boss","tag-energy","tag-prices","tag-report","tag-stay","tag-taxes","tag-windfall"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1807937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1807940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1807937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1807937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1807937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}