Overview
- Marks & Spencer chief Stuart Machin said government policy charges now account for more than half of the retailer’s total energy bill, calling the burden unsustainable for UK businesses.
- These non‑commodity charges include the renewables obligation, levies that fund clean‑energy schemes and feed‑in tariffs, network fees for grid upgrades, and the climate change levy on business energy use.
- The government said wholesale energy costs remain the largest part of bills and pledged targeted help for households as it pursues a clean‑power goal designed to cut long‑term exposure to fossil‑fuel price shocks.
- New line items to fund the Sizewell C nuclear project and extra electricity pylons are due to start appearing on business energy bills from next month.
- Retailer Next reported a £15 million cost hit linked to the Iran conflict and said it could absorb these pressures for about three months before prices rise, as the OECD warned the UK faces a large growth hit from the war.