Climate change mitigation won't be free

The celebrations back at the time of COP26 in Glasgow, when Guernsey agreed to sign up to the Paris Agreement and joined the global political movement agreeing to tackle climate change, didn’t necessarily, or so we might have thought, come with significant costs attached.

But of course it does. And even attempting to use less energy, and pay less, is now going to come at a cost with the electricity standing charge set to rise significantly as GE looks to more accurately rebalance its costs against its income.

Guernsey Electricity says that if prices are to rise, the initial hit will be between £25-50 per customer per quarter, depending on whether we use electricity for heating. In all, it says it needs to raise its income by 9% – more than £7m. a year.

The States, through the Environment & Infrastructure Committee, predicates its long-term energy policy on four pillars – making sure that the island reduces emissions, to make sure that the energy market can transition to decarbonisation without risking security of supply for islanders, to grow on-island renewable energy, and to keep energy costs affordable.

So it does have at least half an eye on islanders’ pockets, but in the same energy policy, we can see another cash grab coming around the corner.

Currently the energy policy has no recommendations for any environmental or energy-related taxes, but this has been recommended to be reviewed within the next 12 months.

At the same time, the need to rebalance fuel duty will increase, as electric cars continue to proliferate on our roads and pay less duty.

‘There has been a study on several different tax policy options, but there are no plans to make any change or introduce any new taxes at this stage,’ the committee says.

Will we get to see government grants or tax breaks to encourage improvements in insulation, as has happened in other places?

We are learning that climate change mitigation doesn’t come for free.