Speaking at the Future of Utilities conference in London today (March 19), Cocker said: ” was put in place with the stated objective of encouraging investment in low carbon energy. It certainly doesn’t achieve this objective, and it is just a tax for the Exchequer, a subsidy for old nuclear, and an encouragement for energy imports. So, it gives no value to energy customers. In fact, it takes value from them.”
Cocker added: “We believe it should simply be scrapped.” Otherwise, he said, the money it raises should be ringfenced for energy efficiency measures.
The carbon price floor comes into force on April 1. The level of the tax for coming years will be confirmed in tomorrow’s Budget.