A group of MPs has said that investing in renewable energy will not lead to dramatic domestic andbusiness gas price rises.

Despite claims by some in the energy industry, recent price increases have mainly been due to the rising cost of gas according to the findings of the Committee on Climate Change. From 2004 to 2010, the average dual fuel energy price increased by £455 but 80% of this is due to rising gas prices, rather than green investments.

The study also said that investments in renewable energy will lead to price rises in the next few years, but it will not be astronomically high and could see projected bills fall by the year 2020.

Chairman of the Committee, Lord Adair Turner said: “We were keen to provide a dispassionate analysis of household bill impacts in what has become a politically controversial area. We found that bills have increased primarily in response to increased wholesale gas costs and not due to environmental policies.

“Over the next decade, we anticipate a rise of around £100 in the average bill as a result of investment in low-carbon power capacity, which will benefit the UK in the long run.”

Although the research only looked at domestic bills, business gas prices have also been increasing in recent months with many companies now finding that their energy costs are now taking up more of their profit than ever before.

One way of reducing your costs is to compare tariffs from the different business gas suppliers. As well as the Big Six energy companies, there are many newer smaller companies that could be offering a more competitive price, so it is important to spend the time checking the different rates available.