U.K. Energy Companies to Help the Poor Handle High Fuel Costs
The U.K.’s six largest energy companies have agreed in a government-brokered deal to assist the lowest-income earners to deal with increasing fuel costs.
Centrica Plc, EDF Energy Plc, E.ON AG, RWE Npower Plc, Scottish & Southern Energy Plc, and Scottish Power Plc will spend 225 million pounds ($443.9 million) over the next three years to offset bills, install energy-efficient insulation and provide other services, according to an e-mailed statement by U.K. Business Secretary John Hutton.
The Office of Gas & Electricity Markets, the U.K.’s energy regulator, will monitor the suppliers’ progress.
One consumer-protection activist said the measures won’t address the fact that many poor people in the U.K. use pre- payment meters for their heating fuel.
“The problem in the market is the huge unfairness in the way in which pre-payment meter customers are charged,” said Allan Asher, chief executive officer of Energywatch, a consumer watchdog, in an interview. Asher said the difference in price between using such meters and paying by other means is “up to 450 pounds a year.”
“That’s where most of the fuel poverty is,” he said. “This doesn’t help them.”
Fuel poverty is defined as when more than 10 percent of a household’s income is spent to heat the residence, according to statement by Hutton.
Source: Bloomberg
Tags: energy, fuel costs, UK