THE costs of England's Sizewell-C nuclear plant are set to spiral – leaving Scots with higher energy bills.
The SNP have warned that Scottish bill payers will have to cough up after Energy Security Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed the plant will cost £38 billion, nearly double the previous estimate of £20bn.
Miliband snuck out a statement hours before Parliament was due to go into a six-week summer recess, admitting energy bill payers would face a decade-long levy as a result of the price hike.
This is despite Labour promising ahead of the General Election that their flagship GB Energy policy would save people £300 a year on their energy bills. In actual fact, bills are on average 10% higher than they were this time last year.
An average of £1 will be added to each household’s energy bills per month from autumn, over the duration of the nuclear site's construction phase.
Graham Leadbitter, the SNP's energy spokesperson, hit out at the news on Tuesday.
"Nuclear is extortionate, takes decades to build and the toxic waste is a risk to local communities – Scotland's future is in renewables, carbon capture and links to Europe, not more money for white elephants.
“Just months ago, the Labour Government rubbished the £38bn figure for Sizewell-C yet today Ed Miliband snuck out a statement that confirmed they've lost control of this project before spades are even in the ground.
"To make matters worse, Scots will be left to foot the bill with a levy on energy bills – you simply couldn't make it up, yet Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour back this extortionate and wasteful plan that energy rich Scotland will pay for through the nose."
Leadbitter added that it seems the "pot of cash never runs out" for projects in England, while Scottish plants like Grangemouth see minimal support from the UK Government.
"Westminster's fiscal regime has ruined Scottish energy jobs – Scotland isn't just an afterthought, it's barely a thought at all," he added.
"It is absurd that energy rich Scotland is home to fuel poor Scots and that while energy bills go up, Scottish energy jobs are going down – that's directly as a consequence of Westminster policy and the further squandering of cash on expensive nuclear won't change that."
Leadbitter concluded: "Time and time again Westminster’s priorities undermine Scotland’s priorities and that’s why more and more Scots are increasingly asking how long we stay tied to this so-called Union of Equals?”
The UK Government announced on Tuesday that it had signed a deal with a group of investors on Sizewell-C.
The Government will become the biggest equity shareholder in the project with a 44.9% stake.
New investors include Canadian investment fund La Caisse with 20%, British Gas owner Centrica with 15%, and Amber Infrastructure with an initial 7.6%.
It comes alongside French energy giant EDF announcing earlier this month it was taking a 12.5% stake – lower than its previously stated 16.2% ownership.
Once Sizewell C is up and running, it is expected to create savings of up to £2bn a year across the future low-carbon electricity system.
The Government did not confirm how much individual households are estimated to save from the cheaper clean electricity.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the cost is about 20% cheaper than the development of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset – which is under construction and projected to open in 2031.
Sizewell C will power the equivalent of six million homes and create some 10,000 jobs once it is operational, which is expected to be in the 2030s.
