Two of Britain's biggest green energy companies are locking horns in a fierce disagreement over zonal pricing.
Ecotricity boss Dale Vince and his Octopus Energy counterpart Greg Jackson are embroiled in a bitter row about the best way to reach net zero, and whether zonal pricing is the way forward or not.
Criticising the current system, Jackson highlighted an aging cabling network being unable to cope with the levels of power coming from windfarms of Scotland's coasts.
He calculates, The Telegraph reports, zonal pricing would save households at least £3.7billion a year, equating to around £132 per customer.
But Vince has responded by highlighting how complex zonal pricing would be, suggesting it would delay the net zero push and hit poorer households with extra charges.
He said: “I don’t understand why Greg Jackson is evangelical about it.
“But part of me thinks that he’s looking for a cause to campaign for and make a name for himself because there are so many better things we can do to bring energy prices down.”
At present, electricity prices are uniform across the country, but proposals could see it divided into 12 different zones.
Prices in each zone would be determined by geographical supply and demand.
This would mean lower prices for those living closer to wind farms, and higher prices for residents in zones having to import power from other zones.
Jackson argues: “It would be mad to keep building on our current system because you’re building wind farms that are idle more often than they’re productive.
“The more of them you build, the worse that gets. If you introduce a more sensible market, meaning zonal, then all that infrastructure should be more productive, and costs come down.”