Major change planned for electricity bills could help customers save £100 a year

ELECTRICITY bills will be made cheaper than gas to get people to switch over their cars and boilers.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps will bring forward long-awaited plans to permanently re-balance green taxes and environmental levies in the long-run.

Leccie bills have a higher amount of green taxes - making up around 12 per cent of electricity bills, compared to just 3 per cent of gas.

Ministers are expected to slash them on electricity to make it the cheaper option and lure more Brits into getting electric cars and heat pumps.

At the moment green levies - around £100 on the average bill - are paid by the Government until October 2024.

But there is a fight behind the scenes about whether to keep the levies wrapped into general taxation - which would mean an extra cost for the Treasury.

Separate plans to decouple electricity and gas prices - which are currently tied together - have been kicked back until later in the year.

New stats from the AA said that charging an electric car up is now cheaper than petrol for the first time ever.

The average cost of speedy off-peak charging - after 8pm - has dropped from 60 p/kWh to 52 p/kWh.

But slow charging and at peak times have gone up in price, their Recharge report showed.

It came as it was revealed nine in ten North Sea operators are cutting back their investment - blaming extra windfall taxes and sky-high inflation.

Offshore Energies UK Business Outlook report blames hikes to windfall taxes - which will stay until 2028 - making it more difficult to finance new projects.

500 million fewer barrels are likely to be produced - enough to support the nation for six whole months.

It blames huge red-tape from planning permission taking years to secure - causing decade-long delays in opening up new fields.

David Whitehouse, OEUK’s chief executive, said: “The windfall levies are driving investment out of the UK. The total tax rate for offshore oil and gas operators is now 75% - three times that of conventional UK business.

When prices fall, as is already happening, the ‘windfalls’ will disappear – but the tax will remain because it is locked in place till at least 2028."