The items listed here are not the whole story. The electricity industry is forced to buy and subsidise the electricity produced by the grossly uneconomic wind-farms - to the tune of around 40% of their cost. Whatever the calculation, it's enormous but it's hidden from the consumer as it is not shown on your electricity bill. Christina Speight ====================== TAXPAYERS' ALLIANCE WEBSITE 30.7.08 Daily Mail: Climate change policies are costing families an extra £50 on annual electric bills Householders are paying more than £50 extra a year for electricity thanks to climate change policies, campaigners claim. But the Government's 'preoccupation' with green policies is said to have made only small reductions to harmful greenhouse gases. The TaxPayers' Alliance said the average domestic electricity bill for 2007-2008 was £367 - with £51.38 of this attributed to the cost of climate change policies. Families paid an average bill of £557 for gas in the same year - £16.71 of which was said to be due to green initiatives. The total of £68.09 per household will rise to £76.97 in 2008-2009, according to the alliance. Its chief executive Matthew Elliott said: 'These are tough times for ordinary families and the Government's climate change measures are making life even more difficult. 'Not only are they a costly extra burden on household bills but they are an expensive way of pursuing the Government's emissions targets.' The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is partly responsible for the increases. In a bid to cut carbon emissions, the scheme puts a price on the pollution caused by electricity generators and heavy industry - increasing generation costs which feeds through to the customer. Price rises are also due to the Government's 'renewables obligation', which forces electricity suppliers to find an increasing amount of energy from renewable sources. [The windfarm scam is in here -cs] Yesterday, the parliamentary business and enterprise committee said the UK's energy markets are in urgent need of reform. The cross-party group of MPs said gas and electricity bills would rise ' significantly' in the near future, with 'serious consequences' for millions of households. The Renewable Energy Foundation, which campaigns for the development of renewable energy and energy conservation, pointed out that rising fuel costs and climate change policies were making a significant contribution to Treasury funds through VAT. It claimed the Government's renewables obligation would decrease emissions by just 1.6 per cent by 2010.