Responding to the confirmation that the Ofgem price cap will rise a staggering 80% to a record high of £3,549, UK100 says urgent action is needed to help communities now.
Polly Billington, Chief Executive of UK100, the network of council leaders and mayors committed to Net Zero and clean air, said: “With households already beset by a cost-of-living crisis, it’s impossible to see how many families will cope with an average energy bill rise of over £1,500 a year. We are looking down the barrel of a bleak winter across Britain. It is clear that urgent action is needed to help communities now.
“But while cash handouts are a vital short-term measure to support the most vulnerable across the country, we cannot pretend that those funds are going anywhere but straight back to the energy firms already making record profits.
“The handouts already budgeted for will cost taxpayers £21bn. How much will that bill increase when the cap rises again in January?”
Doubling down on earlier and repeated calls for a nationwide energy efficiency drive to bring down bills and accelerate Net Zero progress, Polly added: “With energy prices sky-high and only forecast to get higher, and millions facing fuel poverty, it is finally the time to grasp the energy efficiency nettle. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use, and we need a nationwide drive to improve the energy efficiency
of our homes — a drive that will permanently slash energy bills.
“We need support for an emergency energy efficiency strategy that prioritises, first and most urgently, upgrading Britain’s social housing stock. Local and regional leaders are ready to deliver those improvements and reduce bills for their constituents. But they need backing from the central government.
“Britain has some of the draughtiest homes in Europe. If our radiators kicked out five-pound notes instead of warm air, we would see wads of them escaping from homes up and down the country every winter. Our homes are leaking money and energy.
“But energy efficiency isn’t sexy. It doesn’t ignite culture wars. And it doesn’t sell newspapers.
“This can be the only explanation for why the Government has seemingly passed up almost every possible opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes, including recently scrapping a £1bn scheme to do just that. Whoever takes the keys to Number 10 needs to face up to the challenge and focus on real solutions, not just throwing good money after bad.”
Polly concluded: “Short-term help is desperately needed in the face of the current crisis, but the only way to tackle it in the medium and long-term is to fix the roof while the sun is shining. And not just the roof. We need to insulate the walls and triple glaze the windows too. End the wait. Insulate.”
UK100 will host a “Tackling the Energy Price Crisis” summit on 17th November, in cooperation with the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Mayor Tracy Brabin, that will focus on the role of local and regional leaders in delivering energy efficiency upgrades.
The event will also launch a new social housing retrofit report detailing the cost of upgrading all of Britain’s social homes and the benefits to households in energy bill savings alongside the jobs dividend.
You can register for the event here. More details on speakers will be announced shortly.
Header image ©Paolese/AdobeStock
