Britain’s net zero drive could push up bills for gas customers over the next nine years, Ofgem has suggested. The energy regulator said that more than seven million households could disconnect from the gas network by 2034-35 as consumers adopt low-carbon heating technology such as heat pumps. At present, around three-quarters of gas disconnections are paid for by network operators. These costs are then recovered through gas bills. As a result, a typical gas bill, which currently stands at £865 a year, could rise by as much as 9.3pc in 2034-35 as more households disconnect from the gas network, the energy regulator said.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article does not report Ofgem's own condition: costs would fall on remaining gas customers only under current arrangements and without government intervention. Without it a reader believes the rise is set to happen, when Ofgem presents it as the outcome if policy does not change.
The Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme incentivises households to replace gas boilers with heat pumps by providing grants of up to £9,000 to make the switch. Mike Foster, of trade association Energy and Utilities Alliance, said: “For those advocating replacing gas boilers with heat pumps the question they must answer is how to pay for disconnections and decommissioning fairly. “Simply charging those left on the gas network, likely the least well-off, to pay for the disconnection of those who can afford to buy and run a heat pump is inherently unfair.”
The Telegraph's headline says flatly that gas bills are to rise to pay for heat pumps. Its own body reports only an Ofgem suggestion that bills could rise by up to 9.3pc in 2034-35. The article also leaves out Ofgem's point that this outcome depends on current arrangements staying in place without government intervention.
NewsCord staff selected this article for review and pointed the model at passages to examine. Every finding quotes the article.
Headline goes beyond the article
Serious
“Gas bills to rise to pay for heat pump switch”
Why this matters
The headline says flatly that gas bills are "to rise". It drops the "could" and the Ofgem attribution that the body gives, and it gives no date.
The impression it gives
A reader believes a gas bill rise to fund heat pumps is decided and coming soon.
The context
The body reports only an Ofgem projection that bills could rise by as much as 9.3pc, and only by 2034-35. Other coverage quotes Ofgem saying this is what happens under current arrangements and without government intervention.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“could rise by as much as 9.3pc in 2034-35”
Elsewhere in the article“could push up bills for gas customers over the next nine years, Ofgem has suggested”
Gas bills could rise by up to 9.3pc by 2034-35 to cover heat pump disconnections if current arrangements stay unchanged, Ofgem warns.
Leaves out what changes the picture
Minor
What is missing
The article does not report Ofgem's own condition: costs would fall on remaining gas customers only under current arrangements and without government intervention. Without it a reader believes the rise is set to happen, when Ofgem presents it as the outcome if policy does not change.