pay the cost upfront through their energy bills. On 30 September 2020, Jean-Bernard Lévy, EDF's chairman and CEO, demanded that the Treasury provided clarity on the future of nuclear funding following Hitachi's withdrawal from the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station project which was set to cost £20billion, citing a lack of viable funding. On 14 December 2020, following the release of the UK government's long-awaited energy white paper, the government announced that it had started consultations with EDF to take a stake in the project following concerns that CGN is backing out of the project, which would leave a financing gap. The government also warned that any stake in the project would be 'subject to approval on areas such as value for money and affordability' with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, saying, "We are starting negotiations with EDF, it is not a green light on the construction". In January 2022, the UK government invested £100million towards continued development of the project. In March 2022, it was announced that the UK government and EDF would each take a 20% stake in the project, with infrastructure investors and pension funds expected to take up the remaining 60%. In August 2022, The Guardian reported expected costs were £20billion to be paid with £1.7billion of taxpayer money and a surcharge on customer energy bills through the Regulated Asset Base model. Barclays had been hired to find new financial backing. In November 2022, the UK government announced that it was taking over a 50% stake in the project for £679million. In February 2023, EDF confirmed that following anticipated external investment its shareholding in the project will be no more than 19.9%. Project costs estimates vary from £20 billion to £35 billion. Criticism and opposition Opposition groups Groups that opposed the construction of the plant include Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) and Stop Sizewell C. TASC sought a judicial review of the East Suffolk Council's decision to grant planning permission in September 2019 for preparatory works on the site, which would involve the felling of 229 trees as well as the demolition of buildings on the Sizewell B site. The group claimed that the decision was unlawful and that proper investigations into the potential scale of environmental damage had not occurred. The bid to block the works were brought forwards by a local resident, Joan Girling, on behalf of