The energy conflict instigated by Vladimir Putin, following his incursion into Ukraine, resulted in a staggering expense of £2,500 per second for taxpayers as the government endeavoured to mitigate the impact on domestic bills during the winter season.
In an effort to alleviate households from escalating gas and electricity charges, the government expended nearly £40bn. This was a consequence of the Kremlin’s strategic use of the energy sector to finance its war efforts in Eastern Europe.
Without the government’s intervention from October of the previous year until March, amidst significant upheaval in the global energy market, average household bills would have surged to nearly £4,300 annually.
The government’s £39.3bn in subsidies, which effectively limited the average annual bills to £2,500 and provided monthly payments of £67 to assist households with increasing expenses, has resulted in a cost to the Treasury of approximately £2,500 every second since October.
A portion of this expenditure has been offset by windfall taxes imposed on oil and gas companies such as Shell and BP, which are projected to generate nearly £26bn by March 2028.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt commented, “The manipulation of global gas prices by Putin led to a sharp increase in our energy bills. This is why we intervened promptly to reduce the average household energy bill by about half last winter, thereby curbing inflation and easing the burden on families.”
