The Public Accounts Committee said deals worth £17 billion agreed with firms for transmitting electricity were too generous.

Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said: "Not only is it unlikely that this new licensing system for bringing electricity from offshore wind farms on to the national grid will deliver any savings for consumers, it could well lead to higher prices." She added that the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority had failed to learn lessons from previous PFIs, and said: "It is shocking that the Treasury allowed it to proceed".