Consumers are willing to pay more towards the low carbon energy transition, but only if energy companies and government accept their share of responsibility, new research has found.
The UK Energy Research Council (ERC) partnered with Cardiff University to survey more than 3,000 members of the British public and hold a series of focus groups, the findings of which ERC said revealed the “groundswell of support for energy system change”, but also uncovered significant mistrust of energy companies and government.
The research revealed that people would broadly support between 9 – 13% of their energy bills contributing to environmental and social schemes, the upper end of which is almost double the 7% of bills which currently goes to such schemes, according to Ofgem.
However, the willingness for consumers to increase how much they pay towards the energy transition was ultimately dependent on energy companies and the government in general contributing their fair share as well.
The research found that those consumers who had a greater understanding of this were also willing to accept higher bills.
Read more: Current News