Senior Tory: Treasury fails to support green energy We asked twice and they didn't come and then we put questions to them in writing which they didn't answer, so it was difficult to actually find out what their [position was]. We were disappointed that they didn't want to argue their case in person. I think our concerns are, firstly, the Bill has very little in it about energy efficiency. Cutting demand for energy is by far the best way to save money and to cut carbon emissions and there's very little in the Bill that addresses that at all. That's a very serious omission. "In terms of what appears to be intervention by the Treasury, it concerned in particular what are called "Contracts for Difference," which is the way in which low-carbon electricity generators in the future will be given extra support. When the Government published its consultation last year, it suggested that the Treasury would act as the sort of backstop, the guarantor for these contracts, although the actual cost of them passes through to consumers. They're not going to do that now which therefore introduces an element of credit risk which will make investors require higher return and thus directly raise electricity prices for all consumers. He told the Guardian the Treasury is sacrificing green energy plans to please Tory backbenchers. They are working particularly to target some Conservative backbenchers, pursuing a policy designed to prove that they are not going to get into so-called costly green initiatives. It is extraordinary. Mr Yeo called for a "stable framework" for energy investment in the UK, and a mixed provision of energy in future. He told Sky: "I think what the public want to see is secure electricity at an affordable price and clean electricity. Now, we believe that will be achieved by a mix of some gas-fired electricity, some nuclear, some from renewables. What we need is a stable framework so that the huge amounts of investment, that literally hundreds of billions of pounds are needed in new capacity over the next ten years, that those investments are made in a framework where the returns are predictable and stable and not subject to too many changes.