LONDON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- British households are paying more for energy than necessary because the country is not moving quickly enough toward electrification, according to an annual assessment published Wednesday by Britain's Climate Change Committee (CCC).
In its assessment of progress toward Britain's legally binding climate targets, the CCC warned that slow adoption of technologies such as heat pumps and electric vehicles is leaving households exposed to volatile fossil-fuel prices and higher living costs.
The CCC said the government needs a more ambitious plan to electrify key parts of the economy, including further action to reduce the cost of electricity.
"The transition to clean electricity is not happening fast enough. Government support to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles and heat pumps is critical, not only to keep our climate targets within reach but to unlock savings," said Nigel Topping, chair of the CCC.
The CCC's recommendations include making electricity cheaper through measures such as removing remaining policy costs from electricity bills, enabling a more rapid transition to electric vehicles, for example by expanding affordable charging infrastructure, accelerating the installation of heat pumps in buildings by cutting costs, removing barriers, and supporting low-income households, delivering on industrial electrification including speeding up grid connections to remove barriers for businesses electrifying operations. ■