Rising British Gas bills are being invested in fracking – increasing prices more, say protesters ‘Fracking is expensive and damaging and is only delaying urgent investment in the clean energy’

British Gas customers can expect more price hikes, environmental protesters say.

The UK’s biggest gas provider announced plans to raise prices by £119 for 3 million customers from 1 April.

Centrica, the multinational parent company which owns British Gas, also funds fracking through an organisation called Cuadrilla.

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‘Fracking is expensive’

Reclaim the Power, a group that says it is fighting for social, environmental and economic justice, and Fuel Poverty Action, told i fracking will further push up bills for customers.

“Right now, as illustrated by the price hike by British Gas just this week, our bill payments are funding Centrica’s speculative investment in fracking,” said Robert Noyes, campaigner at Reclaim the Power.

“Fracking is expensive and damaging and is only delaying urgent investment in the clean energy we need for the future.”

US boom

The United States is the pioneer in fracking, and in the late 1990s unlocked oil and gas reserves across more than 20 US states. US oil production has increased faster than in any country as a result. Hydraulically fractured wells accounted for 67 per cent of the country’s natural gas production and 51 per cent of its crude oil production in 2015.

The US fracking boom has helped spark the UK’s, and global, interest in fracking, in part because of how it turned America from a mass importer of oil it into a mass exporter.

But Mr Noyes said: “In essence, UK shale deposits are deeper and more geologically complex than in the USA, meaning it will cost more to extract.”

This is the result of higher UK labour costs, and health, safety and environmental restrictions which are laudably more stringent, he added.

“Even if fracking was socially responsible or morally tenable in line with the need to protect the planet – it is neither financially prudent, nor politically viable – and must be opposed from all sides.

“In all, there is no good reason to think that fracking will bring down energy bills in a way that the 2.5 million people living in fuel poverty so desperately need – while there’s a lot of good evidence to suggest that renewable energy would bring down our bills hundred of pounds over the coming decades.”

Instead he points to wind and solar as the cheapest way to build new electricity in the country.

Centrica and fracking

Centrica became a 25% partner in Cuadrilla’s Lancashire expansion in 2013 and committed to pay £40m in cash and £60m towards exploration costs in the licence area.

Last year, The Times reported that £60m of Centrica’s money had been spent by September 2018, before attempts to frack began.

There has been resistance to fracking has been ongoing. Last year, The Guardian reported the government stopped asking for public opinion on fracking in the lead up to the UK’s first operation. The number of people against extracting shale gas has outweighed those in favour since 2015.

Mr Noyes said Centrica’s funding for fracking is a “lifeline for the failing industry, enabling it to stagger on for a few months in the face of enormous public opposition”.

“The longer this doomed fracking experiment is allowed to carry on, the more we accelerate climate breakdown, risk polluting local water supplies, and delay investing in clean energy which we urgently need.

“Meanwhile Centrica continue to throw money into a hopeless hole in the ground, to make back the money they have to raise prices which is damaging for you and me and everyone who buys electricity or gas from British Gas.”

The organisation are holding a protest on Friday against fracking – more details can be found here.

A ‘natural’ interest

A spokesperson for Centrica told i: “The development of natural gas from shale has a potentially important role to play in securing gas supplies for the UK.

“As the UK’s largest energy supplier, it’s natural that Centrica should explore the potential of natural gas from shale to provide safe, secure energy to millions of homes and businesses.”