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I’ve written to Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, on the urgent need to address the high and inflated cost of electricity, in light of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.
When people across the UK are already struggling to make ends meet, it is unacceptable that we are once again facing another devastating spike in the cost of essentials. The UK is particularly at the mercy of global gas price fluctuations because of how our energy is priced, meaning gas-fired power stations almost always set the price of electricity in the UK, even though a significant share of our electricity comes from cheaper renewables;
I am calling on the government to decouple the price of gas from the price of electricity, to better protect households from the devastating impacts of global energy price spikes.
You can read the letter in full here:
Letter to DESNZ from G5 + Peers on decoupling (1) (1)
The full text of the letter reads:
26 March 2026
The Rt Hon Ed Miliband
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Dear Ed,
I am writing to you regarding the urgent need to address the high and inflated cost of electricity, in light of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.
The impact of another global fossil fuel price shock is once again threatening to send bills for households and businesses through the roof. Unless the government steps in, the Ofgem energy price cap is now predicted to increase by over £300 from July 2026 (Sky, 2026). Experts are warning that the impacts could be equal to or worse than the price surge seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which cost the UK an additional £90 billion in just four years (ECIU, 2025).
As you are aware, bill-payers across the country are particularly at the mercy of these global gas price fluctuations because of the UK’s marginal pricing system for electricity. This means that gas-fired power stations almost always – around 85% of the time – set the price of electricity in the UK, even though a significant share of it comes from cheaper renewables, with gas only representing around a quarter of electricity generation by volume (Common Wealth, 2026).
This rigged system needs to change. By breaking the link between gas prices and electricity, the government can better protect households from the devastating impacts of global energy price spikes.
The Green Party welcomes proposals published last week by Common Wealth, which recommend passing emergency legislation to instruct the National Energy System Operator to act as a single buyer of power. This would remove both gas and legacy low carbon assets from the wholesale electricity market and onto fixed price contracts, similar to the current Contracts for Difference. Gas plants would then be shifted into a Regulated Asset Base model, providing a strategic reserve of electricity, switching on only when the system required them to – a move also advocated for by Greenpeace and Stonehaven in their report published last year. When households across the UK are already struggling to make ends meet, with a
typical energy bill £478 per year higher in October 2025 than four years previously (Green Alliance, 2025), it is unacceptable that households are once again facing another devastating spike in the cost of essentials.
I am aware that you have previously said that your Department is looking into taking control of electricity prices by decoupling, but I am concerned that to-date this has not amounted to any firm action, meaning the public are once again exposed.
With prices set to soar, the public cannot wait any longer. So can you confirm that the government will move beyond ‘looking into’ and instead commit to decoupling the price of gas from the price of electricity? And when can we expect an update to Parliament on these steps?
Yours sincerely,
Carla Denyer MP, Green Party Spokesperson for Energy and Net Zero
Co-signed by:
Dr Ellie Chowns MP
Siân Berry MP
Hannah Spencer MP
Adrian Ramsay MP
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb