British green energy generators are warning about a risk to £100billion of new investment.
They are concerned by moves by the UK Government which seek to cap both consumer bills and generator earnings - as well as giving it new powers over the sector.
Energy Voice says that business leaders have told Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg that proposals contained in the government's Energy Prices Bill "threaten to undermine the long-established principle of strong, independent regulation of the energy sector".
Signatories to their letter, which include bosses at companies such as SSE, EON, ScottishPower, Centrica, RWE and Uniper, said they were "alarmed" to see clauses contained within the Bill that propose "extensive new powers" for ministers in relation to the regulation of the sector.
It follows a series of policy announcements aimed at curbing rising energy costs for consumers and businesses.
However, recent additions to the Bill include a proposal for a "cost-plus revenue limit" capping the amount green energy generators can make. Older wind and solar energy are among projects affected by the move.
Revenue limits
The bosses say the revenue limits are significant enough on their own to jeopardise the £100billion in planned investment energy investment up to 2030.
But the letter also points to the "concerning" potential for market interventions, including giving the Secretary of State powers to intervene to extend duration and intervene in the level of the default tariff cap, and powers to modify licenses and issue directions.
This, the signatories say, "has the potential to impact just about everything energy companies do on an indefinite basis".
The message adds: "As it stands, the Bill would offer no protection from any resulting financial implications for companies from following such directions, and little in the way of checks and balances typically seen in regulated markets."
"We therefore urge the government to take on board these concerns and act accordingly."
The letter also says that the speed of progress of the legislation "prevents proper scrutiny of changes with long-standing and profound consequences for the energy sector".
Call for amendments
They call for its contents to be "reconsidered and amended" so that it focuses solely on ensuring support for household and businesses over the winter.
The message reiterates that the sector's mooted £100billion investment is dependent on a "strong, stable regulatory environment".
Trade association Energy UK is briefing MPs that the revenue cap amounts to a "de-facto windfall tax" on low-carbon suppliers and threatens ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
It adds: "While the windfall tax for oil and gas producers contains generous exemptions through an investment allowance, no such provision exists with the revenue cap.”
Unless similar allowances are built into the revenue cap, the government will "penalise investment in clean, cheap, low-carbon generation in favour of polluting oil and gas extraction," the briefing goes on, adding that a "poorly designed" revenue cap would be "an unprecedented policy that could have catastrophic consequences for the investment needed to safeguard both climate targets and energy security".
The Energy Prices Bill will be debated in the House of Lords today.
Call for fresh raid
The new UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week refused to rule out a fresh windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers. Labour and the Lib Dems have called for another raid on the sector to help the UK balance the books and calm the current economic turmoil.
But Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, has urged the chancellor to "check his sums" before ruling in another raid on the North Sea.
Mr Crighton said: "One of the few financial projections released with the mini-Budget was confirmation that the windfall tax already in place will raise £28billion, before its sunset clause kicks in at the end of 2025.
"And that is on top of the £22million North Sea firms are already paying per day in Corporation Tax.
"Therefore, any suggestions that our offshore energy companies are not paying their way in this crisis are well wide of the mark, in my view.
"The chancellor has a number of options available to him, but taxing the North Sea into oblivion should be bottom of the list.”