In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the former leader of the Conservative Party suggested that the extra tax on people’s accounts used to fund things like renewable projects should be scrapped. The green levy consists of a number of taxes that help finance investment in low-carbon projects, including solar, nuclear and wind farms. They are also used to pay energy companies to insulate homes for poorer households.
But Mr Duncan Smith claimed that beating these extra costs of energy bills would stop them from rising further.
He said: “Create the green levies that people have to pay.
“Whatever your opinion on green energy is, the truth is, we need to keep the economy going.
“This means that we have to suspend those levies for the time being so that the public will find that the costs do not increase for the next 12 months or so.”
Mr Duncan Smith was not the only voice calling for this measure, as bills continue to rise along with rising inflation.
The growing cost-of-life crisis has called for swift government intervention – but the green levies on bills remain.
Robert Halfon, a Conservative MP and a member of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, claimed that green taxes make up 25 percent of energy bills.
He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One program: “The government must do what it can to reduce energy bills – of course the reduction in VAT will help and that is an important gesture.
“But there is an elephant in the room, and it is the so-called energy tax green levies that amount to 25 percent of the electricity bill that we all pay.”
I added that this green tax should at least be reduced while global gas prices are high.
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Jess Ralston, a senior analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said cheap renewable energy funded by the Contracts for Difference green levy has eased the blow of rising gas prices.
She said: “They are actively helping to curb electricity price increases by reducing the need to import expensive gas from places like Russia and essentially financing Putin’s war.”
And in April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would not scrap the green charge on electricity bills, rejecting calls from a number of Tory MPs.
He said: “I want to do everything we can to alleviate the cost of living, but there is a lot of prejudice against the green agenda.”
Mr Johnson added: “In fact, green technology, green, sustainable electricity can help reduce bills.
“In general, if you look at what we’ve been doing with renewable energy, it’s helped reduce bills over the last few years and will continue to do so.”
Mr Duncan Smith disagreed, and the Conservative MPs for Chingford and Woodford Green wanted to see other taxes reduced as well to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
He told Express.co.uk: “Get tax on people, especially on basic income tax – get it off because it’s too high.
“All our taxes are currently too high and lowering those taxes will help keep the economy going, which is very important while we have high inflation. What we can not do is have a recession, because it will be a total disaster. “