Shaun Murray

We don't have to join the EU's Internal Electricity Market (IEM) to trade electricity with the EU; we already do. Last year, 10% of UK electricity came from the EU. But interconnector capacity and grid constraints prevented us from buying any more. Joining their IEM is estimated to reduce the wholesale cost of the 10% of electricity that the UK imports from the EU by between 0.25% and 0.7%. This could save private electricity companies between £120 and £370 million a year. But the EU requires the UK to contribute to the cost of running the EU system. Based on the payments of Norway, Switzerland and Northern Ireland, Britain could have to pay between £40 and £80 million a year towards the IEM operations. The UK would also have to align dynamically with the EU's environmental protection, including its RED III target of 42.5% of gross final energy consumption to be from renewable sources by 2030. The UK's current proportion is only 16.8%. Our electricity is 53.5% renewable, but our heating is only 10%, and our transport is only 6%. (DUKES Table 6.5a) But tied to this is a mandatory commitment to pay into the EU's Cohesion Fund in perpetuity. Unlike the IEM agreement, this one has no get-out clause. Britons should expect to be forced to pay £3 to £4 billion.