Facts

The term “green levies” is often used to refer to environmental and social obligation costs, which are contributions paid by consumers via larger energy suppliers towards various energy policies.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Conservative MP Robert Halfon wrongly claimed that green levies account for 25% of energy bills. He argued that they should be scrapped to help mitigate the impact of changes to the cost of living.

Mr Halfon repeated this claim in a since corrected op-ed for The Sun.

According to the regulator Ofgem, an average direct debit energy customer under the default price cap announced on 1 April would pay £1,971 per year, of which £153 would be environmental and social obligation costs.  Based on these figures, the costs account for around 7.8% of the bill—far less than the 25% figure claimed by UKIP and by Mr Halfon on the Today programme. 

For an excellent analysis, see FullFact. 

Verdict

Mr Halfon’s claim was false. 

We approached Robert Halfon's office to give him a chance to comment, but received no response.