HOUSEHOLDs have had to pay up to £1,900 more a year for their energy due to the government scrapping investment in home insulation and green tech, a report has found.

British consumers could have saved £70 billion by 2023 if there had been greater investment and faster action on insulation, solar panels, renewables, heat pumps and electric cars over the past decade, according to the study by think tank, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

This would have saved £56bn in the first two years of the gas crisis in 2022 and 2023, as insulation and clean tech would have reduced demand for expensive oil and gas, the report said.

A household with all the available technologies would have saved £1,900 on their bills last year, the ECIU calculated.

Head of analysis Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin said: “Investment in these net-zero technologies brings returns in the form of lower energy bills, reduced vulnerability to volatile international gas markets and the prospect of real energy independence for the UK.

“A lack of investment leaves families colder and poorer and has left the country in a real hole in the gas crisis at a cost of tens of billions of pounds.

“Had billions been invested in insulation and renewables, not only would huge savings have been made for the bill [payer] and taxpayer but these savings would continue into the future at a time when the gas price is expected to remain high.”

Warm This Winter spokeswoman Fiona Waters called for a “proper insulation programme” for Britain.

She said that the ECIU findings showed how much ordinary people could have saved on their energy bills, which remain 55 per cent higher than three years ago, if the government had made the right choices.

“Instead, Rishi Sunak introduced a tax break worth around £12bn to the oil and gas industry which could have been spent upgrading 11 million homes in the UK with proper insulation,” she added.

“People aren’t stupid and the British public are sick and tired of being ripped off and gaslighted. What they want and what they need are real energy solutions, notably renewable energy and proper insulation, to stop this ongoing cycle of obscene profits for oil and gas companies and to keep ordinary people warm this winter.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it did not recognise the report’s “highly speculative” figures.