To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the effect of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines on the average domestic energy bill.

In March 2013 the Government published estimates of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills.¹ The report estimated that in 2013 supporting major renewable electricity projects through the renewables obligation (RO) accounted, on average, for around 2% (£30) of the annual household energy (gas plus electricity) bill. Of this, onshore and offshore wind each account for around 0.7% (£9, all figures in real 2012 prices).

The report also estimated that, on average, around 1% (£7) of the household energy bill in 2013 went towards supporting small-scale installations through feed-in tariffs (FITs). Wind installations are estimated to make up a small proportion of this cost, less than £1 in 2013.

It should also be noted that onshore and offshore wind generation help put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, because they have very low operating costs.

¹ https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills