Ed Miliband accused of clobbering OAPs to fund his ‘mad dash’ to net zero
ENERGY Secretary Ed Miliband was last night accused of clobbering pensioners to fund his “mad dash” to net zero.
More than 130 subsidised contracts for windmills and solar farms have been auctioned at a cost of £1.5billion.
It comes just weeks after the Government announced it was stripping almost all pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payments.
Eco firms bid for part of the government’s £1.5billion funding pot to build sites and get a minimum price for their electricity in future — with the cost eventually passed on to bill payers.
Danish energy company Orsted and ScottishPower, owned by Spanish firm Iberdrola, were among the big winners.
Mr Miliband declared the auction a “triumph” which will provide enough electricity to fuel 11 million homes.
But it risks the wrath of pensioners set to lose their fuel payment to save the Government £1.4billion a year.
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said: “One of Labour’s first acts has been to take away up to £300 energy support for ten million pensioners this winter and his mad dash to a zero carbon grid 2030 is going to heap costs on households.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MPs most pensioners should be able to cope, pointing to the basic state pension rising and energy bills being lower this year.
MPs are expected to be given a vote on the cut next week, which could lead to a Labour rebellion.