Household bills are expected to rise by £200 per year following today’s Energy Bill announcement. Campaigners say the rise will be used for nuclear power in a bid to improve energy security in the future.

Fuel poverty organisations are concerned about the soaring costs of nuclear power as they claim this will have a huge effect on households with very low incomes.

Ron Campbell, Chief Policy Analyst of the National Energy Action (NEA) organisation is not happy with the expected rise and told ELN more had to be done to help the poor insulate their homes: “The primary objective is to increase resources for domestic regional budgets to support the heating and insulation costs.”

WWF-UK also has concerns about the electricity market reform being overly designed to fund for nuclear power at the expense of other low-carbon technologies.

Nick Molho, Head of Energy Policy at WWF-UK said: “What’s needed is for the Government to state a clear ambition for renewable energy in the UK beyond 2020 and to provide financial support mechanisms that are specifically designed for the renewables sector. As it is, it looks like the process has been rigged for nuclear.”

The organisation is also worried as to whether the new bill will provide incentives for energy efficiency measures in the UK.