Green taxes which are blamed for adding up to £150 to every power bill will not be cut as the result of a government review of rising energy bills announced today.

Dieter Helm, an Oxford academic and critic of wind and solar power, has been hired to lead the official review of energy bills - but has been told he cannot suggest any “detailed” changes to green taxes.

Last week British Gas blamed the taxes for a huge rise in electricity bills for three million of its customers.

Electricity prices will increase by 12.5 per cent, adding £76 to the typical annual bill, from next month for British Gas's customers.

The company said the cost of green subsidies levied on bills has created "significant pressures" and suggested that it had no choice but to respond by raising prices.

The UK is legally obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050.

Green levies on bills are used to pay for loft insulation schemes and subsidies for renewable energy projects.

The Tories have repeatedly threatened to take action to curb the costs of these environmental taxes, which were reportedly branded "green cr*p" by former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013.