MPs warn against compensating heavy industry for low-carbon costs

Funding to help energy-intensive industries must not reward firms already profiting from carbon trading, committee says

A £250m compensation scheme to help energy-intensive industries with increasing energy costs must be altered, says a committee of MPs, to prevent giving more public money to businesses already benefiting from huge windfalls from carbon trading.

The government has proposed payments to steel, cement and other sectors with heavy energy needs to offset the element of electricity price rises caused by new low-carbon policies. From 2013, the Treasury will impose a minimum price of about £16 per tonne of carbon dioxide, well above the current price in the European emissions trading scheme (ETS) of €6.70. But the compensation proposal, expected to raise £740m for the Treasury in its first year, takes no account of the billions of pounds of surplus of permits held by the industries.

See full Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/04/mps-compensate-heavy-industry-carbon