With sky-high gas bills, and the likelihood that high prices will continue, the promise of cheap renewables has never been more enticing. Electricity from offshore wind is now nine times cheaper than from gas-fired power stations, an all-time low, and the world’s largest offshore wind farm, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, has just gone into operation. “Renewables are not only important for us to defeat climate change, they’re helping keep bills lower now,” Boris Johnson said this week. Set against this, proposals for 130 new drilling licences in the North Sea, and renewed calls for fracking, will do nothing to reduce prices to UK customers and will fuel the climate crisis.

Yet the lower cost of renewable electricity is not passed onto consumers as electricity prices are tied to gas prices. The government has promised to reform the electricity market: to de-couple the price of electricity produced by cheap renewables from high fossil fuel prices; and to reward consumers for drawing electricity when demand is low or renewables supply is high. Government must now follow through on its promises so that every householder can benefit from cheaper electricity bills.

But there are a few ways householders can already benefit from cheap renewables.

Installing a smart meter gives you access to innovative smart tariffs offering cheaper electricity at certain times of day. My provider, Octopus, offers Octopus Go, a fixed tariff giving you 4 hours of super cheap electricity overnight currently for just 7.5p/kWh, ideal for charging EVs, and Agile Octopus gives you half-hourly electricity prices so you can shift your energy use to when the grid is using more renewables and electricity is cheaper, but note that this latter tariff is not fixed.

Sales of solar panels are on the rise with payback times of around five years through electricity bill savings and selling excess electricity back to your energy supplier. Solar panels can also heat your water, so in the summer months when the heating is off, you won’t use any gas except for cooking.

Another increasingly attractive option is to replace your gas boiler at the end of its life with an electric heat pump. They heat your radiators and hot water by collecting heat from the air or ground and move the heat (that’s the pump part!) into your home. And if you have an electric induction hob, you can disconnect the gas, eliminating the gas standing charge. Heat pumps are very energy efficient and cheaper to run in the long-term. The government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, open to everyone, gives £5,000 towards the installation cost.

You can benefit from cheaper renewables by joining a community or cooperative renewable energy scheme. These schemes generate their own electricity and pass on the savings to the local community or a cooperative of members. TRESOC has been developing community owned renewable energy in the South Hams since 2007 and is now offering an exciting new Energy Local Club model. Householders and small businesses living close to five new community-owned solar roofs will pay a lower price for electricity by clubbing together to buy the renewable electricity generated.

Anyone can buy a share in a cooperatively owned wind farm through Ripple Energy. Members can buy shares funding the construction of their third wind farm. Ripple manages the construction. Members own part of the wind farm alongside thousands of other co-op members. Once the wind farm starts generating power, your savings are applied to your electricity bill each month.

Of course, investing in renewables costs money, and so those most in need of help will not benefit without support. The government needs to act fast to tackle the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis at the same time.