Report by independent energy company Good Energy, backed by University of Sheffield, finds the impact of subsidies on U.K. bill payers has been lessened by renewable energy, which has served to lower wholesale electricity costs.

The increased role of wind and solar power in the U.K. energy mix has served to lower wholesale electricity prices by more than the overall net cost of subsidizing clean energy, a new report by independent energy company Good Energy has found.

According to the Good Energy report, which has been rubber-stamped by experts at the University of Sheffield, the wholesale cost of electricity in the U.K. in 2014 was lowered by £1.55 billion ($2.4 billion) thanks to the growing presence of solar PV and wind power feeding the grid.

That figure exceeds the £1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) in overall net support spent on solar and wind in 2014, which worked out at 58% less than the costs earmarked in the Levy Control Framework for green subsidies. Hence, money skimmed from customers’ bills to support clean energy was not fully spent by solar and wind.

“This analysis puts the bill payer at the center of the debate around renewable energy subsidies,” said Good Energy chief executive Juliet Davenport. “Let’s give them the full picture and not just half of it.”

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Read the rest of the story at PVMagazine.com

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