Why the CCC Are Misleading Parliament — and DESNZ Turns a Blind Eye

“It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.” – Richard Feynman

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) likes to present itself as the sober, independent guardian of Britain’s decarbonisation pathway. But beneath the glossy reports and clever charts lies a disturbing truth: the CCC is misleading Parliament and the public about the real costs of Net Zero. Even worse, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is turning a blind eye, preferring to go along with the fantasy rather than face the political consequences.

The result? Ordinary households and small businesses are trapped in an energy system riddled with spiralling bills, hidden subsidies, and broken promises.

The Costing Fantasy

When the CCC published its Seventh Carbon Budget (CB7), it claimed that the total net cost of achieving Net Zero between 2025 and 2050 would be a manageable £110 billion. The catch? That headline number relies on heroic assumptions about the cost of renewables.

Offshore wind, they say, will cost just £38/MWh by 2030.

Solar, they claim, will fall to £34/MWh by 2030.

Floating offshore wind, supposedly, will be almost as cheap.


But in the real world, where developers bid for contracts and banks demand returns, the numbers are wildly different:

£82–117/MWh for offshore wind (Contracts for Difference auctions in 2023 and 2024).

£72–78/MWh for solar.

£202–280/MWh for floating offshore wind.


These aren’t academic models. They are contracts, backed by 15–20 year index-linked subsidies, signed in London and paid for through your bills.

Levelised Cost of Energy: A Junk Metric

The CCC justifies its optimism by pointing to the “Levelised Cost of Energy” (LCOE) — a modelling tool that smooths over costs and assumptions across a project’s theoretical lifetime. It is, quite literally, an accountant’s spreadsheet exercise.

But bill payers don’t live in spreadsheets. They live in the real economy, where:

Developers demand higher strike prices to cover risk.

Supply chains are strained, pushing up capital costs.

Finance costs are far higher than the CCC’s assumed 3.5%. (Recent projects are priced with 8.5–10.9% cost of capital.)


Using LCOE in place of actual market data isn’t just poor analysis — it is wilful misrepresentation.

DESNZ: Complicity by Silence

Here’s where things get even worse. Shadow Secretary of State Claire Coutinho wrote to the CCC’s new chair, Nigel Topping, pointing out these glaring discrepancies. His reply? A defensive letter full of waffle about LCOE, “learning curves,” and vague promises of future cost reductions.

DESNZ, meanwhile, has said nothing. Instead of demanding realistic numbers before CB7 goes to Parliament, the department seems happy to let the fiction roll on. Why? Because admitting the truth — that Net Zero is vastly more expensive than claimed — would blow a hole in government energy policy.

The Reality for Bill Payers

This isn’t an abstract policy debate. The CCC’s misdirection has very real consequences for families and businesses:

Locked-in subsidies: 15–20 year index-linked CfDs mean consumers are paying inflated prices long into the future.

Soaring standing charges: up 500% in recent years, largely to fund grid reinforcements for renewables.

Curtailment costs: billions paid to wind and solar operators when the grid can’t absorb their output.

Tax transfers: the CCC now calls for “levies” to be removed from bills — but that simply hides the costs in general taxation.


One way or another, the public pays.

The Offshore Wind Illusion

Take Hornsea 3 as a case study.

Forecast cost: £10–11bn for 2.9GW.

Revenue at current strike price and load factor: ~£630m per year.

Annual interest payments on £10bn debt at 6.3%: ~£630m.


That leaves nothing for repaying capital or covering operating costs. It is financial suicide dressed up as climate policy. Yet the CCC insists projects like this can deliver at £38/MWh. It is pure fantasy.

Misleading Parliament, Misleading the Public

Parliament relies on the CCC’s reports when setting legally binding carbon budgets. If those reports are based on junk costings, then MPs are being misled into voting for policies that are unaffordable and undeliverable.

DESNZ’s refusal to challenge the CCC’s numbers makes them complicit. Civil servants and ministers alike know that the gulf between model and reality is unsustainable, but they prefer silence over honesty.

The Bottom Line

The CCC’s role was supposed to be independent, evidence-based advice. Instead, it has become a political shield for unrealistic Net Zero targets. Its reports are not just optimistic , they are deceptive.

And DESNZ? By refusing to demand accurate costings, it has become a willing accomplice in the misdirection.

Until Parliament and the public demand accountability, the deception will continue  and your bills will keep rising.

✅ In short: The CCC is misleading Parliament. DESNZ is looking the other way. And Britain’s bill payers are being forced to foot the cost of this fantasy.