THE Green Party called on prospective prime minister Andy Burnham yesterday to cut energy bills by £150 before winter by shifting policy costs off household electricity bills and onto general taxation.

Zack Polanski’s party said a wealth tax should partly fund policies including the warm homes discount, which are currently funded through electricity bills and account for nearly 10 per cent of domestic electricity charges.

Ofgem’s price cap rose by 13 per cent yesterday to £1,862 a year for the average household, with forecasters expecting prices to remain high this winter.

Cornwall Insight predicted a typical household would face a bill of £1,849 from October.

After Chancellor Rachel Reeves moved some policy costs onto general taxation in November’s budget, the Greens urged Mr Burnham and his new chancellor to do the same for the remaining five policies funded through bills, saving around £120 a year on average.

Removing energy debt servicing costs from bills could save a further £35 a year.

The party said the measures would cost around £4.2 billion and proposed funding them by extending National Insurance contributions to investment income.

Mr Polanski said households were facing “yet another unaffordable hike in their energy bills” and said it is “time for government to stop pretending there’s simply nothing they can do and act.”

Green Party Treasury spokeswoman Ellie Chowns said: “If Burnham is serious about delivering real change that improves people’s lives now, moving all policy costs off household electricity bills is a no-brainer, delivering immediate relief to families before the winter.”

She called for longer-term reforms including scaling up renewables, decoupling gas prices from electricity and “cracking down on profiteering to ensure energy giants are not able to rake in vast profits.”