Government policies over the last decade which hampered the roll-out of onshore wind power in Britain might be adding close to a billion pounds to energy bills this winter, according to research from the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a UK-based non-profit body funded by a range of climate-focused philanthropic foundations.

The effective ban on this energy source ban was first brought in by former prime minister David Cameron in 2016 after pressure from Conservative MPs who worried about the impact of wind turbines damage on rural communities. 

Without this decision, developers could have built enough turbines to generate around 2.5 terawatt-hours of energy – enough to power 1.5 million homes through the winter – and reduced the need to use gas power plants, saving 4.9TWh of gas, according to the ECIU.

Overall, the decision to ban the building of onshore wind farms might have added around £800 million to bills this winter.

“Putting...