Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has sparked controversy by claiming that leaving the European Union could increase household energy bills by £500 million a year, equivalent to £1.5 million per day. Speaking in Kent, she argued that EU membership keeps costs down through access to cheap electricity and investment in the UK's energy network.
However, Leave campaigners dismissed the claims as 'absurd', stating that the UK does not rely on the EU or Russia for energy supplies and that EU membership actually pushes costs up. They pointed out that the UK has diversified gas sources, including Norway, and is a major producer of liquefied natural gas.
The debate comes ahead of the 23 June referendum, with both sides focusing on economic and security implications. Rudd warned that leaving the EU could expose the UK to Russian energy manipulation, citing Moscow's use of gas supplies as a political tool. She emphasised the need for EU cooperation to prevent energy security being 'hijacked'.
Critics noted inconsistencies in Rudd's argument, as the UK's own renewable subsidy cuts have created policy uncertainty that could raise costs. The research cited, by Vivid Economics for National Grid, suggests that exclusion from the EU's Internal Energy Market could increase costs by up to £500 million by the 2020s, though it also notes that non-EU countries like Norway are members of that market.
