Wholesale electricity prices in Britain hit £118 per MWh in January 2025, three times the level in 2020. That feeds directly into the price cap, which will rise by another £63 in October. Households on standard variable tariffs now pay £1,736 a year. The single cheapest way to bring that number down is sitting in a field, turning slowly, and blocked by a nine-year-old planning rule.
Ed Miliband is being urged by cross-party MPs and energy analysts to scrap the effective ban on onshore wind in England, as reported by The Times. The current rules require a proposed wind farm to be in a location identified in a local plan, and to win unanimous local support. In practice, that has meant almost zero new onshore wind capacity in England since 2015, while Scotland and Wales have built freely.
What it costs a typical 3-bed semi
Ofgem’s latest data shows that wholesale electricity makes up about 40% of a typical dual-fuel bill. For a household using 2,900 kWh of electricity and 12,000 kWh of gas a year, that is roughly £700 of the £1,736 total. Onshore wind generates power at £40–£50 per MWh, compared with £80–£100 for new gas. If onshore wind replaced just 10% of gas generation, the wholesale price would drop by roughly 8–10%, knocking £56–£70 off the annual bill. The Government’s own advisory body, the Climate Change Committee, has said that removing the ban could save households £25–£30 a year by 2030, but that estimate assumes only modest deployment. Industry analysts at Aurora Energy Research put the figure closer to £80 per household if 10 GW of new onshore wind is built.
Who qualifies, and who doesn’t
The ban does not apply in Scotland, where onshore wind already supplies the equivalent of 98% of Scottish households’ electricity demand. In England, the 2023 Energy Act introduced a new ‘nationally significant infrastructure’ route for onshore wind projects above 100 MW, but smaller community-scale projects remain stuck. The catch is that ‘local consent’ still means a single objection can block a scheme. Miliband’s department has said it will consult on revised planning guidance later this year, but no date has been set. For homeowners in rural England, that means cheaper grid power remains a distant prospect.
What this means for your home upgrade plans
Cheaper grid electricity directly improves the economics of heat pumps and electric vehicles. A heat pump running on grid power at 15p/kWh costs roughly the same per unit of heat as a gas boiler at 6p/kWh, but if wholesale prices fall, the heat pump becomes cheaper to run. Solar-plus-battery systems also benefit: when grid export tariffs track wholesale prices, a lower wholesale price reduces the incentive to export, but the real saving is in self-consumption. The Energy Saving Trust notes that a typical 3.5 kWp solar system in southern England saves about £270 a year at current prices; a 10% drop in import costs would add another £25–£30 in savings from reduced grid purchases.
But the bigger prize is systemic. Onshore wind is the cheapest form of new generation, cheaper even than solar, and it operates at night and in winter, when demand is highest. For homeowners considering a heat pump, that means the grid is likely to be greener and cheaper when they need heat most. The EPC rating itself won’t change, EPC measures the building fabric, not the grid, but the ‘energy cost’ component of the EPC calculation will improve, potentially lifting a D-rated home to a C if the grid price falls significantly.
What you can do now
Write to your MP asking them to support the removal of the onshore wind ban in England. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit has a template letter on its website. For your own home, lock in a fixed electricity tariff before the October price cap rise, some suppliers are offering 12-month fixes at 14.5p/kWh, which is below the current cap of 15.0p/kWh. If you are planning a heat pump installation, ask your installer for a running-cost estimate based on both current and projected grid prices. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers £7,500 off the installation cost until March 2027, but you must apply before you buy the system.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it takes 2–4 years to plan, consent, and build a wind farm. But if the Government acts this year, households could see savings from 2027 onwards. The short-term fix is to switch to a fixed tariff before October.
Indirectly. The EPC's energy cost rating is calculated using national average fuel prices. If wholesale electricity falls, the assumed cost per kWh drops, which can improve the rating by a few points. It won't change the building fabric score, but it could push a borderline D to a C.
