THINK TANK - The Ideas Zone....!!!

– Soaring fuel costs are leaving many households struggling

Fuel poverty will hit millions if ‘affordability ceiling’ is breached

Energy costs have risen and are now reported to be £1,293 a year and getting closer and closer to an affordability ceiling of £1,500 a year. Research from a national charity, uSwitch suggests that if this ceiling is reached, 26% of people will be forced to borrow money to be able to afford energy costs.

“We are now just £207 or 14 per cent away from hitting an affordability ceiling after which consumers will start rationing their usage as though they are living in the third world,” warns Ann Robinson from uSwitch.

The latest research by uSwitch put the number of those already in fuel poverty at 6.3 million households, much higher than the latest figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change of 5.5 million.

This month Turn2us is encouraging people to use social media such as Twitter, SMS text messages and an online form, to broadcast the amount which people pay for gas and electricity as a percentage of their income. They are hoping that by revealing their personal “fuel rate”, the Government and energy companies will take action to make fuel more affordable.  Rates will automatically be plotted on a Google Map to give a visual picture of how much people up and down the country are paying.

Website: The Independent

Source:

Amanda Frewin

Research & Project Support

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

twitter link Facebook link Linked in

Subscribe here

Archives

twitter link Facebook link

Featuring Recent Posts WordPress Widget development by YD