Claim: GB News comments linking energy prices solely to net zero policies
Summary of the Claim
During GB News appearances in 2022, Rupert Lowe argued that rising energy bills were caused mainly or entirely by net zero policy decisions. The impression given was that climate policies, environmental levies and renewable subsidies were the primary reason households were facing steep increases in gas and electricity bills.
This fact check looks at how those claims compare with independent evidence on why UK energy prices rose so sharply, and how much of a typical bill is actually linked to net zero and other environmental policies.
Where the Claim Was Made
Lowe has regularly used GB News and other media to criticise net zero, arguing that climate policies are driving up bills and damaging the wider economy. Reform UK campaign material and commentary associated with the party have likewise claimed that net zero targets are largely to blame for higher energy costs.
On GB News, this argument is often presented in simple terms. Viewers are told that green policies or net zero are pushing bills to unaffordable levels, sometimes with the clear implication that removing those policies would dramatically cut prices.
However, these statements rarely quantify how much of an average bill is made up of net zero or environmental costs, or compare that share with the impact of global gas prices and other factors.
Verdict: ⚠️ Misleading
There is some truth in saying that climate and social policy costs form part of UK energy bills. However, independent evidence from the regulator Ofgem, the House of Commons Library, Full Fact, Nesta, Carbon Brief and others is clear that:
- the main driver of the 2022 and 2023 price spike was wholesale gas prices on global markets
- policy and green levy costs make up a relatively small share of a typical bill
- renewables have tended to reduce wholesale prices, not increase them, especially during the gas crisis
Lowe’s framing, which attributes rising bills mainly or entirely to net zero, is therefore incomplete and misleading. It focuses on a smaller component of the bill while downplaying the dominant role of fossil fuel prices and other structural factors.
Evidence and Analysis
1. What actually drove the 2022 price spike?
The Office for Budget Responsibility explains that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a surge in wholesale gas prices, which pushed up retail energy prices and contributed to the highest inflation in four decades.
The House of Commons Library briefing on domestic energy prices shows that typical household bills rose by 54 percent in April 2022 and a further 27 percent in October 2022, with the primary driver identified as higher wholesale gas and electricity prices.
The government’s own explainer on rising energy bills also attributes the spike mainly to global gas markets, supply shocks and geopolitical tensions, not to net zero commitments. It argues that clean power and reduced reliance on gas are needed to protect households from future volatility.
In other words, the main cause of the crisis was expensive gas.
2. How much of a bill is actually policy and net zero related?
Ofgem provides a breakdown of a typical dual fuel bill under the price cap. For recent periods, policy costs, which include environmental and social schemes, are a minority component of the total, alongside wholesale energy, network costs, supplier costs and VAT.
Full Fact has specifically examined claims that green levies or net zero policy costs make up a large share of bills. In 2022 it found that environmental and social obligation costs accounted for less than 8 percent of the average bill under the price cap, far below some political claims.
Nesta’s analysis of household energy bills similarly estimated that levies supporting environmental and social schemes made up around 16 percent of the final price of electricity and only 5.5 percent of the final price of gas, adding around £140 to an annual electricity bill and £50 to a gas bill for a typical household.
These figures show that policy costs are a noticeable but modest part of the total, and they were not the primary driver of the huge percentage increases seen in 2022.
3. Independent fact checks on net zero and bills
Because the idea that net zero is to blame for soaring bills has been widely repeated in right leaning media, several independent organisations have investigated it.
- A Guardian fact check in August 2022 concluded that green levies make up only a fraction of bills, and that renewables have helped reduce overall costs, especially by cutting demand for expensive gas.
- Carbon Brief’s analysis in 2025 found that expensive gas, not net zero, was keeping UK electricity prices high and that green levy costs had actually fallen during the height of the gas price spike.
These findings directly contradict claims that net zero is the main cause of higher bills.
4. Wholesale gas prices are the dominant factor
Parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee has also examined the issue. Its report on tackling the energy cost crisis states that a sharp rise in wholesale electricity and gas prices is the primary reason why bills have soared, with wholesale costs accounting for more than a third of a typical electricity bill and half of a typical gas bill.
Industry and consumer bodies echo this message. Energy UK’s guidance and other sector briefings consistently identify wholesale prices as the biggest driver of bill changes, with other components, including policy costs, playing secondary roles.
Lowe’s GB News comments focus on net zero and environmental charges while largely ignoring the much larger wholesale component.
5. Renewables and net zero can lower, not raise, long term costs
The narrative that net zero automatically increases bills also ignores evidence that renewables and energy efficiency can save money by cutting fuel demand.
Analysis from Nesta and others points out that shifting away from gas reduces exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets. A more recent study by University College London found that wind power has significantly cut UK energy costs since 2010, even after accounting for subsidy payments.
While these later studies look beyond 2022, they support the broader point that net zero measures are not simply a cost add on. They are part of the strategy to reduce dependence on expensive gas, which was the core reason bills spiked.
Conclusion
Rupert Lowe is right that policy costs related to net zero appear on energy bills and that UK households have faced very high energy prices. However, attributing rising bills mainly or entirely to net zero policy decisions misrepresents what the evidence shows.
Independent data from Ofgem, Parliament, Full Fact, Nesta, Carbon Brief and government itself all point to global gas prices and wholesale energy markets as the primary drivers of the 2022 price spike. Environmental and social policy costs form a relatively small part of bills, and renewables have tended to reduce reliance on expensive gas rather than cause bills to soar.
Because the GB News framing singles out net zero while downplaying or ignoring the much larger impact of wholesale gas and other factors, the claim is rated ⚠️ Misleading.
Sources
- Ofgem, “Energy price cap explained” and “State of the Market” breakdowns of bill components
- House of Commons Library, “Domestic energy prices” briefing
- Office for Budget Responsibility, “The cost of the Government’s energy support policies”
- UK Government, “Rising energy bills: what you need to know”
- Full Fact, “Green levy costs do not make up 25 percent of energy bills”
- Nesta, “Household energy bills: green levies”
- Carbon Brief, “Why expensive gas, not net zero, is keeping UK electricity prices so high”
- The Guardian, “Is net zero really to blame for soaring energy bills in Great Britain?”
- UK Parliament, “Tackling the energy cost crisis”