Since coming to power, New Labour has been a big friend of Big Energy. Most of the rest of us HATE big energy. The government has encouraged corporate greed in this sector (as in the banking sector) by refusing to give teeth to regulators ... the uncomfortable coincidence is that the prime minister's brother, Andrew Brown, is a senior executive with the French energy giant, EDF.
As a result of poor regulation, three million pensioners are living in fuel poverty. They make up half the UK’s fuel poor (the other half of the UK's fuel poor, are, that's right, the rest of us!) At the very least, I think we should look after the most vulnerable.
What can East Sussex County Council do? Show leadership ...
People with prepayment meters, many of them being low income pensioners, are often charged unfairly high tariffs compared to billed customers. The County should not give contracts to energy companies that fail to offer social tariffs to their most vulnerable customers; these social tariffs should not penalise pre-pay customers.
Over ￡5 billion of means-tested benefits goes unclaimed by older people every year. It's money they could use to help pay fuel bills. The County should re-task a portion of it's work-force as field agents to go door to door to ensure those who are entitled to means-tested benefits receive them.
As for the larger picture of soaring energy costs, I recommend everybody take stock of who has been responsible for the UK's energy policy.
Thursday 23 April 2009
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