The owner of vegan football side Forest Green Rovers and creator of green energy business Ecotricity, Dale Vince, 60, told MailOnline that the proposal was “the largest single thing bar none” to address skyrocketing energy costs.
Since hundreds of thousands of people risk falling into poverty, Mr. Vince said that the “extraordinary” cost of living problem would need a comparable reaction from the government to the Covid-19 outbreak in order to assist families get through the winter.
British consumers are struggling to make ends meet as a result of the quadrupling of UK gas prices since mid-June.
Yesterday, Ofgem stated that the annual energy price maximum for the typical family will climb to £3,549 starting in October.
In order to alleviate the situation, Mr. Vince advocated that oil and gas companies in the UK North Sea should have their earnings restricted, similar to how energy merchants’ profits are restricted to 2%.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, 60, said the price ceiling was the best approach to assist households and that the government needed to move quickly to address energy costs.
As energy prices skyrocketed this year, Harbour Energy, the largest producer of oil and gas from the North Sea, saw its earnings leap by an astounding 20 times, from £102 million to £1.3 billion.
‘We have a price ceiling in [energy] retail sales to houses, but we don’t have one on wholesale,’ Mr. Vince told MailOnline. We only did half the task, which results in uneven difficulties.
It’s straightforward in the retail sector: Ofgem has established a two percent profit margin for energy businesses. Therefore, you may add an additional 2% for wholesale.
“At the moment, we allow those people sell it to us at market-determined global commodity pricing; that doesn’t make any sense to me.
The administration made a tardy and feeble effort to enact a windfall gains tax that will essentially have no impact.
We spend £1,800 on gas, which makes about half of our energy costs. In general, cutting that gas cost in half might result in a £1,000 savings for each home.
The Forest Green Rovers owner said the strategy will reduce energy costs without using taxpayer funds.
Due to rising energy prices, Harbour Energy, the largest producer of oil and gas in the North Sea, witnessed a stunning 20-fold rise in earnings this year, going from £102 million to £1.3 billion.
“Put that in, and you solve the issue.”
Small companies are also impacted since they are unable to pay their payments; this is not simply a problem for households.
The government must consider it an unusual occurrence, similar to the epidemic.
Mr. Vince calculated that if the price ceiling was implemented, British homeowners would save a total of £28 billion.
Dale Vince: who is he?
Dale Vince, 60, is the self-made billionaire and creator of the renewable energy firm Ecotricity.
Formerly a destitute New Age wanderer, Mr. Vince first came to public prominence in 1996 when he triumphed in a legal struggle to get his first wind turbine built in Gloucestershire.
He is the owner of League One football side Forest Green Rovers and is said to be worth £100 million.
In 2017, the squad made history by becoming the first vegan soccer team.
He said in April that he would begin selling Ecotricity in order to raise money for his “most crucial election of my lifetime” campaign.
Although Mr. Vince hasn’t endorsed a candidate, he has given to both Labour and the Green Party in the past.
According to estimates, he has earned £100 million over the last 26 years, and the sale of Ecotricity is likely to increase that amount by double.
He continued by saying that a profit cap on the North Sea business would have a significant effect since the price of all other energy sources is linked to gas.
The largest factor, bar none, according to him, in terms of resolving the issue without using taxpayer funds.
You don’t need a tax for it, and it might reduce energy costs by £30 billion.
Many individuals are unable to pay for it, thus the only options are reforming the system or using public funds.
“Gas generates 40% of our power, but [gas prices] determine the cost of nuclear, coal, and renewable energy—every other kind of energy we pay for.”
If we achieved that, the gas and electricity costs would both be cut in half.
Although the government reversed course to impose a windfall tax in May to charge money from the sector as earnings soar, oil and gas firms have vehemently resisted new taxes.
The probable future prime minister of Britain, Liz Truss, has said repeatedly that she wants to reduce taxes and increase oil and gas production, despite the fact that North Sea output peaked 20 years ago.
Energy firm revenues have skyrocketed as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has contributed to rising energy costs.
While this is going on, households are facing potentially ruinous winter utility bills of £3,549.
There are worries that they may increase to more than £5,000 next year.
In a statement made yesterday, Boris Johnson said that his successor would ‘plainly’ need to assist people with paying their bills this winter.
According to him, cash transfers would “clearly be boosted, expanded,” by more cash that the government will undoubtedly be revealing in September.
What I don’t believe we should be doing, he said, is capping things for absolutely everyone, even the wealthiest families in the nation.
“This will continue for a while, and it will continue into the winter.”
And while I’m absolutely cognizant that it will be difficult, we are also taking the necessary steps to make sure that we have the energy independence to go through this.