- Energy price hikes have cost Britain £3tn since 2004
- 80% of energy price hikes driven by non-wholesale costs designed to support renewables
- SDP sets out 10-year plan to build 20GW of coal, 40GW gas, and 40GW of nuclear power stations
- SDP to nationalise full energy system, and establish permanent energy price fix at 10p/kWh
London (11 September 2025) – The Social Democratic Party (SDP), Britain’s party of the patriotic state, has today published Energy Abundance, its flagship green paper on energy policy.
The green paper sets out a bold strategy to reverse Britain’s multi-decade energy crisis, build 100GW of coal, gas, and nuclear power within a decade, and permanently fix retail and industrial electricity prices at 10p per kWh – 60% lower than today.
The costs of the energy crisis
Since 2004, British electricity prices have grown by over 250% in real terms. More than three quarters of this price growth has come from increases to non-wholesale energy costs, which have spiralled from 2.9p/kWh in 2004 to 18.8p/kWh in 2024.
Energy Abundance shows that these non-wholesale costs exist to enable the adoption of intermittent renewables by squashing energy demand. Their main role is as rationing tools, with the government targeting a further 54% reduction in energy demand by 2050.
The consequences have been dire. For the first time in national politics, Energy Abundance provides data linking energy price growth to Britain’s post-2008 productivity crisis: since 2004, energy price growth has cut output per worker by 10.8%.
Over the past 20 years, this loss in productivity has cost Britain £3,070bn: more than a year’s GDP, and equivalent to UK national debt. In 2024 alone, it cost Britain £310bn.
A bold ten-year plan
Energy Abundance presents a ten-year plan to reverse this crisis, rapidly bring down energy prices, and reduce Britain’s dependence on energy imports. At the heart of this plan is 100GW of new power stations: 20GW coal, 40GW natural gas, and 40GW nuclear.
The first part of the plan is a four-year project of grid stabilisation. This will represent the most rapid increase in generation capacity in British history: it will entail the construction of 40GW of new natural gas power stations, and 20GW of new coal power stations.
Commissioned by a new state energy provider, Central Energy, the estimated capital cost of this new fleet of coal and gas power stations will be £60bn. This will be funded by repealing the 2008 Climate Change Act, and redirecting earmarked public spending on “net zero” projects and infrastructure.
The second part of the plan, beginning simultaneously and aiming for completion within ten years, is a national nuclear renaissance: the construction of 40GW of new nuclear power stations. Using proven reactor designs costing under a third of those used for Sizewell C or Hinkley Point C, this 40GW nuclear fleet will have a capital cost of approximately £120bn and will be financed through a tranche of 30-year bonds.
A new vision for the energy system
After the ten-year plan and the 100GW of new capacity, Central Energy will rationalise Britain’s energy system. This will include nationalisation of all remaining generators, transmitters, distributors, and suppliers.
Once completed, Central Energy will implement the boldest prescription of Energy Abundance: a permanent fix of the price of energy at 10p/kWh.
This affordable energy price fix will permanently change the incentives of state and industry. The state will be required to commit to long-term energy system planning, and the maintenance of energy independence to ensure the system’s credibility. Industry will be encouraged to invest in manufacturing and energy-intensive industries with an unparalleled degree of confidence in future energy prices, while being encouraged to improve energy efficiency and thereby gains in productivity.
This will tie the value of the pound to the reliable provision of affordable energy, resulting in the creation of what the SDP calls the energy credit system.
To enable the energy credit regime, Central Energy will issue annual five-year projections of demand and corresponding capital plans. These will be developed alongside the Treasury and Bank of England, given the new explicit relationship established between energy, value, and growth.
William Clouston, SDP Leader, said: “For decades, Britain’s self-induced energy crisis has made us poorer and weaker, gutted our industrial base, and harmed our citizens’ prospects of a brighter future. The causes were part indifference, part profiteering, and part just plain lunacy. But underneath it all was one thing: a political class detached from reality that chose to ignore the material world. This green paper is a monumental moment for country, as the first coherent expression of the causes and costs of the energy crisis – and critically, the first clear path out of it.”
Energy Abundance launched on 11 September at a press conference at 18 Smith Square, London. A full stream of the press conference can be found at: youtube.com/@SocialDemocraticParty
The SDP’s seminal energy green paper, Energy Abundance, can be read in full at: sdp.org.uk/energy-abundance
ENDS
Note to editors: For further information, and to arrange interviews, please contact jack.goodwin@sdp.org.uk
