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Energy secretary Ed Davey has said that £110 billion of investment in energy is needed over the next decade in order to "keep the lights on".
Mr Davey's draft energy bill makes provisions to secure the investment in clean energy needed to make up for the loss of the power stations in the UK which are coming to the end of their working lives, the Press Association reports.
The scale of the investment needed has raised fears that already high bills will increase further, but Mr Davey insisted that consumers "already pay for infrastructure at the moment in their bills".
"What our reforms today do is they try to keep the lights on through energy security and getting investment in infrastructure … and we need to do that in the most affordable way for the consumer," he said.
Emissions performance standards contained in the bill will prevent the construction of new coal plants, placing the focus on low-carbon forms of energy production.
Author: Public Affairs Correspondent Crispin Williams (cwilliams@acenet.co.uk or 0207 227 894)
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