Comment from Ed Matthew – Energy Bill Revolution campaign
On Monday 28th January, the Government launches the Green Deal, its flagship energy efficiency policy.
Ed Matthew, head of the Energy Bill Revolution, the biggest fuel poverty campaign in history, says:
“The Government’s flagship energy efficiency policies, the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, will not stop fuel poverty rocketing in the face of high gas prices. The Prime Minister must get a grip on this growing crisis, and take a much more ambitious approach to tacking fuel poverty. We call on him to use money from the Carbon Tax to super-insulate this country’s homes. This will provide households with 5 times more subsidy to insulate their homes and not add a penny more to energy bills. It is enough to eliminate fuel poverty and in time cut bills for everyone. It is the just and fair solution.”
The Energy Bill Revolution represents over 100 of Britain’s biggest businesses, unions and charities, including Co-op, Confused.com, npower, UNISON, Age UK, Netmums, Barnardos and the National Children’s Bureau.
Taking into account both of the Government’s flagship energy efficiency policies, the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, fuel poverty is projected to hit 9 million households by 2016 if gas prices increase as the Government expects, up from 6 million households today. The Government has reduced financial support to the fuel poor by 26% since the Government came to power and reduced spending on energy efficiency measures for the fuel poor by 44%, despite the fact that insulating homes is recognized by experts as the best way to drive down energy bills. The only dedicated Exchequer funded scheme to help make fuel poor homes energy efficient, the Warm Front programme, was axed last weekend.
The campaign warns the Prime Minister that his attempts to tackle fuel poverty are doomed to fail, and call on him to use Carbon Tax – on average an estimated £4bn every year for the next fifteen years – to super-insulate the nation’s homes, solving the problem once and for all.
Making homes highly insulated will save the average family in fuel poverty £310 every year on their energy bill. With energy prices set to keep rising, high levels of insulation are the best way to cut energy bills for everyone. A programme to vastly improve the insulation of the UK’s homes, funded by carbon tax, could bring 9 out of 10 homes out of fuel poverty within ten years. In time it could be used to help every home in the UK make their home highly energy efficient.
Domestic fuel bills have risen by an average of eight per cent this winter. This means families are bracing themselves for annual bills of over £1,300, with gas prices predicted to continue rising. Fuel poverty costs the NHS over £1 billion every year and the Energy Bill Revolution estimates that 7,200 people die every year from living in cold homes. A recent survey by the UK’s biggest parenting website, Netmums, reveals shocking trends among the families that they support, with 1 in 4 being forced to choose between heating and eating as they struggle to pay their fuel bills
More information on the Energy Bill Revolution campaign is available at www.energybillrevolution.org
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