This is Cornwall --
Westcountry households face fuel bill increases totalling £70 million ahead of what some have forecast to be one of the coldest winters in a generation.
Average bills for British Gas customers are expected to rise by an average of £123 after it announced a 10.4% hike in prices, following hot on the heels of SSE's 8.2% increase. Both are due to come into force this month.
Adrian Wright, of Cornish Energy specialist Happy Energy, said that equated to an overall increase in bills of £30 million in Cornwall and £40 million in Devon.
For the 14,433 homes classed as being in fuel poverty in Cornwall, it meant increases of £1.7 million and £3.6 million for the 29,242 fuel poor in Devon. The problem, Mr Wright said, was exacerbated by the lack of access to mains gas in both counties.
"Another winter and another year of price hikes is the last thing that households across Cornwall and Devon wanted to hear, especially as our geographic location means many of the properties cannot access mains gas leaving us little alternative but to face the price increases," he said.
"These price hikes are now an annual occurrence and have undoubtedly led rise to phrases such as 'eating or heating', which – for some families and pensioners – are very real situations they could be facing. Whilst we have had a mild end to the summer and start to the autumn, cold weather and snow is forecasted for the end of November with some forecasters predicting that this will be the coldest winter for 100 years. Because of this, pressure on households in Cornwall will only increase even further."
Mr Wright said Government initiatives offered households in Cornwall access to a range of energy efficiency measures – whether they are in receipt of benefits or not – and that he was "amazed" more people were not coming forward to find out exactly what was available.
Grants of up to £20,000 are available for the insulation of solid walls, which let the heat out and the cold in far more easily than a modern cavity wall, with householders who heat their homes using solid fuel or storage heaters often getting the works completely free of charge.
Mr Wright said: "Under the Government's ECO (Energy Company Obligation) initiative – which is ironically being funded by the energy companies themselves, some of which are the ones putting the prices up – households, whether in receipt of benefits or not, can access a range of measures that will either be completely free of charge or heavily subsidised – all of which will significantly reduce heating bills.
"Yet we are amazed that more people aren't coming forward to at least find out what's available to them. We are not sure if there is some suspicion or reluctance surrounding these types of 'Government-led' initiatives or if people feel they will be too complicated or time consuming to take up, but the fact is that they are real and there to help, simple to apply for and access.
"The ECO initiative is giving people the opportunity to significantly lessen their energy consumption – by hundreds of pounds a year in many cases – through making homes more energy efficient, so you would think, especially in the face of these latest price increases, that more people would be looking at ways to lessen their impact." Reported by This is 12 hours ago.
Westcountry households face fuel bill increases totalling £70 million ahead of what some have forecast to be one of the coldest winters in a generation.
Average bills for British Gas customers are expected to rise by an average of £123 after it announced a 10.4% hike in prices, following hot on the heels of SSE's 8.2% increase. Both are due to come into force this month.
Adrian Wright, of Cornish Energy specialist Happy Energy, said that equated to an overall increase in bills of £30 million in Cornwall and £40 million in Devon.
For the 14,433 homes classed as being in fuel poverty in Cornwall, it meant increases of £1.7 million and £3.6 million for the 29,242 fuel poor in Devon. The problem, Mr Wright said, was exacerbated by the lack of access to mains gas in both counties.
"Another winter and another year of price hikes is the last thing that households across Cornwall and Devon wanted to hear, especially as our geographic location means many of the properties cannot access mains gas leaving us little alternative but to face the price increases," he said.
"These price hikes are now an annual occurrence and have undoubtedly led rise to phrases such as 'eating or heating', which – for some families and pensioners – are very real situations they could be facing. Whilst we have had a mild end to the summer and start to the autumn, cold weather and snow is forecasted for the end of November with some forecasters predicting that this will be the coldest winter for 100 years. Because of this, pressure on households in Cornwall will only increase even further."
Mr Wright said Government initiatives offered households in Cornwall access to a range of energy efficiency measures – whether they are in receipt of benefits or not – and that he was "amazed" more people were not coming forward to find out exactly what was available.
Grants of up to £20,000 are available for the insulation of solid walls, which let the heat out and the cold in far more easily than a modern cavity wall, with householders who heat their homes using solid fuel or storage heaters often getting the works completely free of charge.
Mr Wright said: "Under the Government's ECO (Energy Company Obligation) initiative – which is ironically being funded by the energy companies themselves, some of which are the ones putting the prices up – households, whether in receipt of benefits or not, can access a range of measures that will either be completely free of charge or heavily subsidised – all of which will significantly reduce heating bills.
"Yet we are amazed that more people aren't coming forward to at least find out what's available to them. We are not sure if there is some suspicion or reluctance surrounding these types of 'Government-led' initiatives or if people feel they will be too complicated or time consuming to take up, but the fact is that they are real and there to help, simple to apply for and access.
"The ECO initiative is giving people the opportunity to significantly lessen their energy consumption – by hundreds of pounds a year in many cases – through making homes more energy efficient, so you would think, especially in the face of these latest price increases, that more people would be looking at ways to lessen their impact." Reported by This is 12 hours ago.