Complaint
A reader complained that the article gave a misleading impression of the level of price support for electricity generated by offshore wind turbines (compared with nuclear energy).
Outcome
The article said “It was once forecast that nuclear energy would be too cheap to meter. But it’s clear now that bill-payers will give price support to the Hinkley Point C nuclear station at a cost of £92.50 per megawatt hour, compared with about £55 for offshore wind”. While the figure of £92.50 accurately represented the price per megawatt hour of energy to be generated by the new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, the figure of £55 approximated to the lowest price among the three most recently-awarded contracts for offshore wind power, which ranged from £57.50 to £74.75 and averaged about £64 per megawatt hour. This gave a materially misleading impression of the cost comparison.
Upheld
Further action
The article has been amended to give a more precise context.