The vast, shocking hole in BBC Panorama's analysis of rising energy bills

The vast, shocking hole in BBC Panorama's analysis of rising energy bills
In the last year wholesale prices put about £170 on gas bills alone, while support for renewables added £20 to combined bills. So which did the TV show focus on?

There was a vast, astonishing and utterly unforgiveable hole at the heart of the BBC Panorama TV show on Monday, which claimed to be investigating what has caused energy bills in the UK to soar in recent years: the rising wholesale cost of gas and electricity.

The wholesale cost makes up 56% of home energy bills, says the regulator Ofgem, by far the biggest single factor. And it's not as though it's hard to find out more. The very first words in Ofgem's most recent and very widely covered report are:
"Wholesale energy costs have continued to rise, particularly for gas, where for example the price of this winter's gas is around 40% higher than last winter's. This increase has been driven by global rises in oil and gas prices. This has contributed significantly to recent increases in customers' bills."

Instead Tom Heap, an experienced and respected reporter, put offshore wind at the centre of the prime time show. This form of renewable energy is relatively expensive and a fearsome array of talking heads lined up to out-do one another in superlatives: "eye-wateringly expensive" was the winner, in my view.

So how much are customers paying for this supposed lunacy? The answer, nowhere to be found in the whole 30-minute programme is about £20 a year - for all renewables subsidies. Include all government levies - mainly for schemes increasing energy efficiency and alleviating fuel poverty - and the cost rises to £80 a year. The increase in the average gas bill alone since last year due to wholesale price rises, using the Ofgem numbers above, was about £170.

Chris Huhne, energy and climate secretary...