“Only fair solution to the energy bills crisis is Labour’s freeze,” Miliband says

Ed Miliband has argued that the “only fair solution to the energy bills crisis is Labour’s freeze” ahead of an expected announcement from the government on how it will support households with rising gas and electricity bills.

Liz Truss, elected by Conservative Party members as Tory leader and Prime Minister earlier this week, will set out a plan on energy bills today following Ofgem’s announcement last month that the price cap will rise by 80% to £3,549 from October.

Reports suggest that the government will announce a freeze of annual household bills at around £2,500 at a cost of £150bn to the taxpayer. Labour’s Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary today urged Truss to commit to his party’s plan.

Labour announced last month a plan to freeze energy bills until April 2023. The party said the proposal could be paid for in part by making changes to the windfall tax, including backdating the tax to include excess profits made since January and closing a loophole allowing tax relief on investment in the North Sea.

“Core to any solution is the question of who pays? By ruling out a windfall tax, Liz Truss, in one of her first acts as Prime Minister, has written a blank cheque to the oil and gas giants making £170bn in excess profits, and the British people will foot the bill,” Miliband argued.

“Every penny her government refuses to raise in windfall taxes is money that they will be loading onto the British people for years to come.”

BBC News reported on Tuesday that the government is considering freezing bills at the current rate for approximately 18 months, funded by government-backed loans to energy suppliers, which would be repaid by additions to customers’ bills over the next one to two decades.

According to Bloomberg, Truss’ proposal would see energy suppliers required to charge households a reduced rate for their energy, with the government guaranteeing financing to cover the shortfall.

The website reported that energy companies had been receptive to the idea, as it would mean that they would dodge a windfall tax, with the cost of the plan instead being covered by the taxpayer. Bloomberg has also reported that Truss is planning a separate £40bn support package to help businesses with rising energy bills.

“Beyond the immediate crisis, we need a clean energy sprint for home-grown power and a national warm homes mission to cut bills for families. After 12 years of failed Conservative energy policy, only Labour can deliver the fresh start Britain needs,” Miliband added.

Labour will hold its annual conference in Liverpool later this month. Exclusive polling for LabourList last week found that 87% of party members think that the energy system should be run in the public sector.

LabourList understands that Labour for a Green New Deal and Momentum will push for public ownership of energy to be passed as Labour policy by members and trade unions at the annual gathering.

Labour for a Green New Deal spokesperson Chris Saltmarsh said a price freeze would provide “essential relief for many households, but this should only be the first step in addressing the crisis”, adding: “Firstly, the price freeze should be set lower to help people already struggling with bills.

“Secondly, Labour must demand public ownership of the whole energy system. Without public ownership, these plans are a sticking plaster on a broken system. Rather than hand bailouts to firms which continue to profit, the government could invest in an energy system that delivers for people and planet.”

A Momentum spokesperson said Labour is “right to demand an energy price freeze and investment in renewables to secure our energy supply, not more dangerous fracking”, but said that “to meet the public mood, Labour must go further”.

They added: “While millions struggle to make ends meet, no party should be proposing subsidies for profiteering energy companies. Instead, it’s time for Keir Starmer to back energy nationalisation. It’s popular, it’s pragmatic and it’s what he promised”.

Keir Starmer ran on a platform of ten pledges in his successful bid to become the Labour leader in 2020, one of which told members that he supports “common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water”.

But he warned earlier this year that “the financial situation has changed” and that therefore there are commitments that he made when standing to be Labour leader that he will no longer be able to fulfil in government.