Liz Truss is expected to reverse the moratorium on fracking on Thursday and promise more North Sea drilling as she unveils long-awaited plans to boost the country’s energy security.
The domestic annual energy bills will be frozen at around £2,500 for the average household by setting a cap on the price of a unit of energy, with anything above paid by the government as part of the package to ease the cost-of-living crunch.
Green levies on energy bills will be removed and businesses will get protection from the rise in energy prices, believed to cost more than £150bn.
The new premier will announce an immediate end to fracking which was announced in 2019, allowing companies in the UK to drill for shale gas by seeking planning permission, reported the Daily Telegraph.
The lifting of the ban is expected to take effect rapidly as new changes can be implemented with a written ministerial statement to Parliament rather than the introduction of full legislation.
Amid opposition from local communities against fracking, Ms Truss previously said the extraction should only take place where there is support from local communities. Fracking companies would offer 25 per cent reduction to their energy bills in order to secure support and incentivise the people, according to the report.
Ms Truss had vowed to remove the ban on fracking during her campaign for the Tory leadership. She spoke in favour of expanding oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
While fracking is pushed for greater energy security the practice remains hugely controversial as it can trigger earthquakes, lead to contamination of groundwater and has an adverse impact on climate change.
Ahead of her Thursday’s announcement, Ms Truss said: “I know families and businesses across the country are worried about how they are going to make ends meet this autumn and winter.
“Putin’s war in Ukraine and weaponisation of gas supply in Europe is causing global prices to rise – and this has only made clearer that we must boost our long-term energy security and supply.
“We will take action immediately to help people and businesses with bills but also take decisive action to tackle the root cause of these problems, so that we are not in this position again.”
Meanwhile, Labour argued that those supporting the return of onshore fracking “misunderstand the situation we find ourselves in”, referring to comments from then-business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
In March, Mr Kwarteng – now Chancellor – wrote in The Mail On Sunday: “Even if we lifted the fracking moratorium tomorrow, it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes – and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.
“No amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon.
“And with the best will in the world, private companies are not going to sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers below the market price. They are not charities, after all.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer on Wednesday also slammed Ms Truss for funding her energy plan with borrowing and for making working people foot the bill while allowing energy firms to keep reaping huge profits during the cost of living crisis.
“Every single pound in excess profits she chooses not to tax is an extra pound on borrowing that working people will be forced to pay back for decades to come,” he said. “Families and public services need every penny they can get. How on earth does she think now is the right time to protect Shell’s profits?”
Ms Truss is also expected to face the wrath of environmental campaigners on promises of North Sea drilling and fracking in the face of the UK’s target to become a Net Zero carbon emitter by 2050.
