Next month's annual report from Ofgem, the energy regulator, will show that it has risen above £1 billion for the first time, according to analysts at the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a green energy think-tank. It means that renewable energy added an an estimated £13.50 to the average household electricity bill last year. An additional burden fell on industrial users of electricity, who in turn passed on costs to their customers. Critics claimed that the subsidy scheme unfairly penalised consumers and was being used to fund "unrealistic" plans to increase the use of wind power. Countryside campaigners have expressed concerns at the number of wind farms being built around the country, as the Government tries to meet its target that 30 per cent of the UK's energy should be generated from renewable sources by 2020.

The Ofgem report will show that over the past three years the subsidies have added a total of £32.50 to the average household's electricity bills. The annual cost has steadily risen from £7 in 2007 to £13.50 in 2009. The proceeds of the levy, known as the Renewables Obligation (RO), are divided between the main renewable energy sources, with wind receiving 40 per cent, landfill gas 25 per cent, biomass 20 per cent, hydroelectric 12 per cent and sewage gas 3 per cent.

Dr John Constable, director of policy and research at the REF, said: "The fundamental problem with the RO is that the cost to the consumer is extremely high. Since the cost of the scheme is passed onto businesses as well as households, there will also be a significant impact on the economy. The Government's plans for wind are wildly unrealistic. Wind power is going to be very expensive, very difficult and ultimately very costly."

The cost to consumers of the RO scheme has risen from £278 million in 2002/3 to £1.04 billion last year, the Ofgem report is expected to say - a total of £4.4 billion over seven years. The scheme works by requiring energy suppliers to obtain a set percentage of the electricity they provide to consumers from renewable sources. In 2008/9 this figure was 9.1 per cent, compared to 7.9 per cent in 2007/8. For each megawatt hour of renewable energy bought by a supplier from a generator, suppliers must also buy a certificate as proof. If suppliers fail to meet their obligation by presenting enough certificates, they must pay a fine known as a "buy-out". The cost to energy suppliers is passed on to consumers through their bills. Ofgem predicts that the total cost of the RO to consumers between 2002 and 2027, when the scheme is set to end, will amount to £32 billion. By 2020 it is estimated that the annual cost will be running at over £5 billion.

Prof Ian Fells, emeritus professor of energy conversion at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, said money that was being invested into wind farms through the RO scheme needed to be diverted elsewhere. He said: "Consumers simply don't realise the cost to them of supporting the renewable energy industry. Not only is there a cost to consumers but there is a cost to businesses as well. So people will not only see the huge cost of the RO scheme in their household bills but also on the High Street, as they see shops put up prices to meet the rising cost of electricity. Subsidising wind farms is far too expensive, and the money could be better spent by investing in other forms of power."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "To ensure we meet our climate change goals we need a massive increase in low carbon energy and that includes renewables. The RO is helping that expansion happen with the amount of electricity generated from renewables trebling since 2002. We also need to make sure we have continued secure energy supplies in the future and renewables are part of that too. There's no high-carbon low-price alternative – we must move to low-carbon sources."

There are currently 270 wind farms with 2,775 turbines in operation, with plans for a further 10,000 on and around Britain's shores. It has raised concerns in communities that hundreds of acres of rural landscapes will have wind farms built on them.

Report Blows Hole in Wind Power Plan
From an article by Roger Dobson and Richard Gray
Published: 12:01AM BST 29 Jun 2008

I have taken this advert from a prominent retailers website. I thought you might like to know what it really means. The text in red are my additions so that the non-technical reader might have a clue about what is actually being offered. I have removed the manufactures name etc but you know who they are.
Note the use of meters per second (m/s) for wind speeds. This is because m/s figures are lower than miles per hour. This makes the required wind speeds seem slower to the casual viewer. The fact that wind speeds in this country are reported in mph not m/s matters not a jot to the eco-loonies that promote this crap. Not a lie then but casual with the truth. So what's new?

And as to saving the planet, how much has its manufacture and disposal cost in raw energy? What is the dust-to-dust carbon footprint? Much more than you think I'll wager.

But if you had used the much more carbon/energy efficient mass electricity generation offered by the national electricity providers and put that £2000 in a 3% savings plan, you would now have £2698.71 (that's £698.71 profit) and done much more to salve your conscience and 'save the planet'.

To summarise :-
You spend £2000 for £0 financial gain and lose out on £698.71 profit.
You are totally disappointed with your purchase because it just doesn't do what you believed it would.
You do absolutely nothing, zero, zilch for planet Earth. In fact you cost it plenty. But never mind, the guy that sold you the heap of crap is having a nice holiday after flying to Majorca on his commission.
You, and the salesman, use valuable resources for no point whatsoever.
You don't sleep for 10 years.
Your wife doesn't sleep for 10 years so she leaves you.
Your kids don't sleep for 10 years and they hate you, so they go off with their mother.
Your next door neighbour doesn't sleep for 10 years and will, on some dark night, be hidden in the shadows with a brick in his hand, waiting for you to pass by so that he can smash your brains in.