Greenpeace UK has warned that it is considering legal action against the Crown Estate unless it ends what the campaign group described as “monopoly profiteering” at the expense of bill payers and offshore wind developers.
Greenpeace claims the Crown Estate has exploited its monopoly position by charging excessive fees for seabed leases, creating what it calls a pricing system that inflates profits for the estate and increases executive pay and Royal Household income, while driving higher costs for developers and ultimately consumers.
The group is calling for a review of the seabed auction process and the option fees paid by developers. The latter now total over £1bn from the 2021 Round 4 process.
It argues that the current system risks pushing up costs twice – first through higher auction fees and again through increased curtailment payments when Scottish wind farms, where fees are capped, are forced to power down due to grid constraints.
Greenpeace UK co-executive director Will McCallum said: “The Crown Estate should be managing the seabed in the interest of the nation and the common good, not as an asset to be milked for profit and outrageous bonuses.
“We should leave no stone unturned in looking for solutions to lower energy bills that are causing misery to millions of households.
“Given how crucial affordable bills and clean energy are to the government’s agenda, the Chancellor should use her powers of direction to ask for an independent review of how these auctions are run.
“If the problem isn’t fixed before the next round, we may need to let a court decide whether or not what’s happening is lawful.”
A Crown Estate spokesperson said: “Greenpeace has misunderstood The Crown Estate’s legal duties and leasing processes. Option fees are not fixed by The Crown Estate.
“They are set by the developers through open, competitive auctions and reflect market appetite at the time. As our net revenue is returned to the Treasury, option fees help to ensure that taxpayers benefit from the requisite value from the development of our scarce and precious seabed resource.”
The spokesperson added: “The Crown Estate is accelerating Offshore Wind in line with Government policy to move forward the energy transition at pace and improve energy security.”
The Greenpeace warning follows months of correspondence and a face-to-face meeting between Greenpeace and Crown Estate representatives, the charity said.
The campaign group is demanding an immediate review of the auction system and for profits from the last leasing round to be redirected into marine recovery.
In its letter to the Crown Estate Commissioners, Greenpeace argued that the estate has a legal duty to support the UK’s climate targets and to remove monopoly value from its seabed leasing.
However, it said Crown Estate managers have maintained that their duty is to maximise profit rather than assist in meeting government climate goals – a position Greenpeace says contradicts previous parliamentary testimony from 2010, when the estate stated that it “cannot exploit [its] monopoly position”.