Spending watchdog MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are concerned about lack of transparency about the cost to consumers of the Government’s plan to expand nuclear, solar and wind power.

The Government estimates that up to £400 billion of public and private investment in new generating capacity will be needed by 2037, but the PAC is unconvinced that the private sector has been given enough clarity to confidently invest.

In a critical report published today, the PAC calls on Government to pull together numerous decarbonisation plans into coherent strategy.

This should be pulled together by autumn 2023 at the latest.

The Government’s delivery plan must also set out when and how the costs of decarbonising the power sector will be likely to have an impact on energy bill payers and taxpayers.

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “What is the plan? It has now long been understood and accepted that greening our economy is an existential priority, with the Government setting itself the target of securing an entirely low-carbon power supply by 2035.

“But without a coherent delivery plan to get there, the Government will find it harder to know what decisions it must take, and when, to ensure that it can realistically reach its ambitions.

“There are just twelve years left for the Government to meet its low carbon energy target, and much still to do if this is to be achieved – and at a cost the taxpayers and bill payers can bear while ensuring the lights stay on.

“There is an information vacuum in key areas – energy efficiency, investment, the cost of the transition to the public – that must be addressed.

“We need an overarching plan charting the way, to provide much-needed confidence to the businesses and consumers who are needed to deliver it. When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, we can see around us, we are already living on borrowed time.”