Daily Mail quietly admits green technology isn’t costing you as much as it claimed.

That well known source of calm, objective information the Daily Mail has had to retract a few claims over the last few months, most notably the idea that investment in green energy generation is causing your electricity bills to skyrocket.

We know that if you’re out and about building support for green energy, this is an argument that you might face from people who are opposed to wind farms and renewables. So it’s worth noting the following announcement on their corrections page.

“On September 18 and on October 29 we said the Government’s 'green stealth taxes’ are costing families an average of £200 a year – an increase of 15 – 20 per cent on typical domestic power bills. In fact Ofgem estimates that environmental costs account for 7 per cent, or £100, of the average domestic power bill.”

That’s quite a substantial mistake, and it’s no coincidence that the Daily Mail has consistently been pushing a message that looks to paint investment in secure, green, home-grown energy as a ‘stealth tax’.

Then there’s this one, dated the 18th of December.

“Recent editorials referring to a leaked Government memo suggested that scrapping ‘green taxes’ would save households 30% - or £300 – on their current energy bills. In fact the memo, which was reported by several newspapers, was outlining estimates for 2020 and should have specified electricity prices rather than energy bills.”

Again, the issue here is over how much importance you place on the role of gas and fossil fuel prices that have to be imported into the UK. Around 50% of consumers electricity bills are made up of the cost of that fuel, so if gas prices suddenly go up then so does your bill, and prices have indeed gone up by 40% since last winter, and are only expected to keep rising.*

Given the Daily Mail’s attitude not just to green energy but climate change in general it’s a fairly safe bet that the paper will make some similar claims in 2012. 

*See ofgem’s factsheet on energy prices http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Media/FactSheets/Documents1/Why%20are%20energy%20prices%20rising_factsheet_108.pdf