映客直播

At a time when the UK has seen a large rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit during the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown, Dr Haar, Senior Lecturer in Finance at the 映客直播 Business School, writes in his article ‘’ that lower income families, typically those in the smallest homes and often in rented accommodation, are cross-subsidising the green energy investment and consumption of those on higher incomes.

Comparing retail electricity prices across the EU over ten years with how Renewable Energy is supported, Dr Haar finds that the costs of inducing private investment falls disproportionately and regressively on lower income families. This has occurred because of the largely fixed-cost nature of renewable energy. 

Dr Lawrence Haar

Spreading the fixed costs of Renewable Energy over larger volumes of consumption, in effect, produces a big discount for the largest consumers - typically wealthier households in larger homes.

Dr Haar said: “Though as a society we may benefit from reducing dependence upon fossil fuels, under existing market structure, the burden of the transition falls upon those in the smallest households and the lowest income”

“At the petrol pump, regardless of the value of our vehicle, we all pay the same. How would we feel if Bentley owners paid less per litre than those driving a Ford Fiesta?”

“Relying upon deregulated, privatised electricity markets for the transition to Renewable Energy raises questions over fairness and social equity.”

“Households in smaller, often rented, accommodation, commonly reliant upon electricity for heating, are, in effect, cross subsidising the green life-style of middle and upper-income cohorts.”