Stuart Anderson MP has endorsed new plans from the Conservative Party to cut energy bills by prioritising cheap, reliable power — a move that could save families in South Shropshire the equivalent of £540 a year. The plans would save consumers over £320 billion over 20 years and make Britain’s electricity structurally a third cheaper by 2050.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“Labour promised to cut bills by £300 but they have gone up by more than this as they are set to rise again in October. That is a broken promise that hits pensioners, families, and businesses the hardest. The Conservative Party has a different plan. We will prioritise cheap, reliable power over costly net zero ideology. Our plan will save the average family in South Shropshire the equivalent of £540 a year. This is backed by a groundbreaking new report, which provides the first full “system cost” analysis of Britain’s electricity grid. It confirms we can have both lower bills and a cleaner environment if we fix the foundations first. That means backing the energy sources that deliver baseload power, cutting green levies that push up costs, and stopping bills from subsidising projects that do not deliver for rural communities. This would save consumers over £320 billion over 20 years and make Britain’s electricity structurally a third cheaper, while still delivering electricity that is nearly 80% clean by 2050.”
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho commissioned a true costing of renewables three years ago when she was Secretary of State. That work would have officially revealed, for the first time, all the extra costs that come from a system based on renewables. However, it was cancelled by former Energy Secretary Ed Miliband shortly after the General Election of July 2026. Now, a first-of-its-kind ‘full system cost’ analysis has compared the current pathway to Net Zero with an alternative that prioritises cutting the cost of electricity over hitting arbitrary Net Zero targets. A groundbreaking new report ‘Firm Foundations’ by think tank Onward and energy consultants Transira Energy found that putting cheap power first would save households £540 per year for more than two decades. This would still deliver electricity that is nearly 80% clean by 2050, while saving consumers over £320 billion over 20 years.
The biggest saving comes from network spending, with £137 billion saved by locating firm power stations like nuclear and gas closer to existing demand and transmission infrastructure, meaning far less new pylons and cables are needed. A further £94 billion would be saved through lower wholesale prices, achieved by removing carbon taxes on generators which currently push up the cost of electricity whenever gas sets the price. The plan would also cut £67 billion from the cost of balancing the grid and keeping the system stable, because a mix with more predictable, firm generation is much cheaper to manage than one dominated by weather-dependent wind and solar. Finally, it saves £22 billion on generation subsidies and Capacity Market costs by ending new subsidies for intermittent projects and instead supporting a core of reliable power.
The report also reveals that Labour’s plan includes building four times more wind and solar generating capacity than the UK’s average electricity demand, with all the extra balancing and infrastructure costs paid for by billpayers. Britain’s domestic electricity prices are already the second highest in the world behind only Germany – at 30.45p per kWh. In France, the equivalent price is 23.7p, while it is 12.9p in the US. It comes as new figures show inflation rose by 2.9 per cent in the 12 months to July 2026, driven by energy costs. Inflation has now exceeded the Bank of England’s target every month since Labour’s first Budget in October 2024. The Energy Price Cap for July to September 2024 was £1,568 compared to £1,862 for July to September 2026, an increase of £294. In July, OFGEM changed the cap to reflect what it calls “falling consumption” and set it for July to September at £1,663. On 26th August 2026, the regulator then announced a 4% increase for October to December, taking it up to £1,723 or £1,906 under the former method.
Stuart has said that bringing down the cost of electricity is essential to support local jobs, keep community buildings open, and help families with the cost of living. The report informs the Conservative Party’s Cheap Power Plan, which puts affordability and reliability at the heart of energy policy. The Conservatives would scrap green levies from energy bills, get Britain drilling in the North Sea to cut reliance on expensive imports, build a diverse mix of nuclear, gas and renewables focused on firm, reliable power that can meet demand when people need it and make generators pay the full system costs they create, so consumers aren’t left picking up the bill.
