Household electricity prices in the UK have risen by 136% since 2010, and the price of energy overall by 109%, far outstripping the rise in general prices. Although the energy price shock that followed the start of the war in Ukraine was felt around the world, prices have risen faster here than in most comparable countries, leaving UK households and businesses facing some of the highest electricity prices in the rich world. That is a problem for growth, for living standards and for the government's ambition to electrify transport and heating.
At this online event, part of this year's IFS Green Budget in association with Barclays and with funding from the Nuffield Foundation, we will present findings from a chapter looking at UK electricity prices written by Stephen Jarvis (London School of Economics), Peter Levell (IFS) and Bobbie Upton (IFS). It will examine what is driving the high cost of the electricity system and how those costs could be brought down. It will also set out the fundamental principles of how electricity ought to be priced, and what a coherent long-term approach to taxing energy and reforming the electricity market should look like.
The IFS presentation will be followed by a discussion with Mar Reguant (IAE-CSIC), an internationally renowned expert in energy economics. There will then be an opportunity to put questions to the speakers.
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