Blair-Backed Think Tank Urges UK to Reframe Clean-Power Target
The UK’s mission to fully decarbonise its electricity system by 2030 is under fresh scrutiny after the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) called for a major reset. In a new paper, Cheaper Power 2030, Net Zero 2050, the institute argues the government should focus less on speed and more on making energy affordable, secure, and abundant.
Clean Ambitions, Cost Warnings
The report situates Britain in a shifting global energy landscape where affordability, reliability, and competitiveness increasingly rival climate targets for priority. While reaffirming the UK’s legal commitment to reach net zero by 2050, it says the Clean Power 2030 goal was designed for different economic conditions and must now be recalibrated.
Without adjustment, it warns, the transition could bring higher bills, weaker system reliability, and a loss of public trust. “If the transition continues in a way that raises costs, weakens reliability and undermines growth, it will fail both politically and practically,” the report states.
Key Recommendations
The TBI calls for a pragmatic overhaul of the UK’s clean-power strategy, centred on cost and resilience rather than sheer speed. It urges the government to reframe Clean Power 2030 as Cheaper Power 2030, Net Zero 2050, putting affordability, system stability, and consumer benefit at the heart of policy. Electricity market reform is also a key focus, with proposals to revisit the Contracts for Difference model to promote more flexible, decentralised investment and ensure costs reflect real system needs.
The paper advocates radical planning reform to cut project delays and reduce delivery costs, alongside developing a generation mix that balances value and reliability — combining offshore wind, nuclear, and storage while scaling back support for higher-cost options such as biomass and carbon capture. It also suggests temporarily suspending some carbon taxes on gas until 2030 to ease electricity prices as renewables expand and the wider energy system adjusts.
Reactions and the Landscape
The intervention comes as the government advances its own clean-power ambitions. Industry voices broadly welcomed the call for cost discipline, while environmental groups warned that “re-branding” the 2030 mission could dilute momentum on decarbonisation.
An energy policy analyst noted that “the report reflects a wider global shift — countries want clean power, but not at any cost.” Others highlighted the risk that cheaper-power messaging could be seized on by opponents of climate policy to justify slower action.
Why it Matters
The UK continues to face some of the highest electricity prices in the developed world, a factor that drags on industry and squeezes households. The TBI argues that unless those costs fall, the political and social foundations of net zero could erode. If the government pushes too fast without fixing infrastructure and affordability, it warns, the result could be higher prices, weaker reliability, and a backlash that undermines public support for the wider climate agenda.
The transition to clean power is not in question — but how it is achieved is. The TBI report’s message is that net zero must be pursued through a strategy that is smarter, cheaper, and built on public trust. For policymakers, the issue is no longer whether to decarbonise, but how to make it work for Britain.