HOUSEHOLDS could be forced to pay £100 more a year for energy bills by the end of the decade because of delays to updating Britain’s power grid.
In a report the National Audit Office (NAO) said homes and businesses could be hit with an annual bill of £7.8billion to switch off wind farms and fire up gas plants to avoid blackouts.
The bill is a result of delays to a £70billion programme that will deliver new power lines, which are needed to reach the government’s 2030 clean power pledge.
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan is the government’s bid to met Britain’s electricity demand with energy from clean sources.
Industry regulator Ofgem estimates this will increase the network charges paid by consumers by £60 by 2030.
It could save them £30 overall compared with the increased constraint costs if projects are not accelerated.
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But the report found that meeting the proposed timetable could be “very challenging”.
It found that 56 of the projects deemed essential to hit the target are forecast to be late, mostly by a year.
Meanwhile, six are forecast to be late by between two and three years, nine by three and four years, four by between four and five years, one by between five and six years and one by between six and seven years.
The National Energy System Operator estimates that potential delays to seven of the most critical projects could result in an extra £6.7billion of wasted wind.
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As of March, three are off track for Clean Power 2030 and four are on track but are facing significant risks to meet their delivery dates.
As a result, the network may be unable to cope with new wind farms being built, which could force those in remote locations to be switched off.
The grid is currently struggling to shift power from where it’s made to where it’s needed.
Customers are already paying £1.9billion to electricity generators to either turn up or down their electricity to balance the grid.
But this could increase fourfold over the next four years, which would cost households an additional £75, pushing up the amount they spend a year on wasted wind to £100, according to The Times.
In August it was revealed that Britain had already blown through £1billion this year paying wind farms to switch off while firing up gas plants.
The wasted wind bill is now £300million higher than this time in 2025, according to the Wasted Wind tracker.
The news comes after Sir Keir Starmer’s government pledged to cut household energy bills by £300 a year by 2030.
The report said that NESO didn’t know the full impact on consumers of delayed upgrades.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Value for money now depends on delivery.
“Failure to implement these necessary grid upgrades will hamper economic growth as well as increase consumer bills.”
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Minister for Energy, Michael Shanks, said: “This report is another stark reminder of the cost of years of historic underinvestment in the grid.
“As the National Audit Office recognises in its report, our once-in-a-generation reforms are finally building the infrastructure we need: reducing our dependence on the fossil fuels that leave households exposed to price spikes and helping lower people’s bills for good.”