everyone’s energy bills by up to £50 a year.
A clear sign that the Government is aware of the problems people are having.
We feel your pain and are working to reduce your costs.
We are from the Government and we are here to help.
How does this work?
The Government confirms it will reduce the current cost of levies as follows:
Establishing a rebate saving the average customer £12 on their bill, for the next two years, worth a total
of £600 million. The Warm Homes Discount will continue to help millions of vulnerable households
receive a £135 rebate off their energy bill.
Reducing the cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), an insulation scheme delivered by major
energy suppliers. This will result in £30-£35 off bills, on average, next year. The existing dedicated
support in ECO for low income and vulnerable households will be maintained and extended from
March 2015 until March 2017.
The average annual dual-fuel bill, that is covering both gas and electricity is, according to regulator
Ofgen, £1,315 per household. This is the figure from mid-September.
It is this sort of cost that means that millions of people are now in energy poverty. This used to mean
they were paying more than 10% on their income on fuel costs.
However due to the Government sneaking through a new definition of poverty this number will
officially be dropping by some 800,000 or more who will no longer be considered to be in fuel poverty
since the new “Official”definition is it will apply only to households which need to spend more than
average on fuel o keep warm and who would be left with “a residual income below the official poverty
line” if they did.
The main reason for the drop is that many poor households tend to be smaller houses which have lower
than average bills when compared to your three bed semi, so no matter how big a percentage of income
the fuel bill becomes if you live in a one or two bed and are just about managing to remain above the
official income poverty line then you will no longer be in fuel poverty.
Anyway millions of households find themselves in fuel poverty whether or not they are“Official”. With an
average quarterly bill of £329 how big an impact is a £3 reduction.
Let’s be honest here, very few people are going to notice the slightest difference.
One whole pound a month. Wow. What shall we spend the savings on?
Perhaps an extra tin of soup a month, a really cheap beer to celebrate or how about splashing out on a
loaf of bread.
One pound a month, three pounds a quarter. This is quite frankly a joke, to call this supporting the poor and
expect people to believe that pile of steaming quadruped droppings is an insult to anyone with a higher IQ
than a microwave oven.
When it is being done at the same time that the Government has bought in a wording change to remove
almost a million people from “Official” fuel poverty and so deny them support it is no longer a joke and
instead becomes a cruel deception.
Thank you Mr Cameron.
I shall vote for you at once. The care and compassion you show will bring the voters back to your party in
droves. You clearly feel the nation’s pain and are working hard to soothe it.
Note. There may have been some sarcasm in the paragraph above.
How about the other part of the announcement. The reduction in the energy generators costs under the
ECO scheme. Between £30 and £35 less which the companies will have to pay.
Yes the Government is charging the companies less NOT charging the customers less.
It was left to the big six energy companies to agree to pass on this reduction to the customers.
They have all agreed to pass on the reduction so we should now all fall to our knees and praise them.
Oh thank you for being so generous to us poor shivering masses as we huddle round our fires with winter
knocking at the door.
Thank you for agreeing to pass on this reduction in our bills of as much as £35 so soon after you all put up
your bills by £100 or more.
Thank you for reducing the average bill from £1,315 to £1,280 just as we come into winter after 30,000 people
died last year due to causes directly related to the cold.
Thank you for being so supportive. We feel your love.
Note. There may have been some sarcasm in the paragraph above.
How about the “no one will be cut off during the winter months if they cannot pay their energy bill”. Yes this
one will help. Because come the spring those kindly and compassionate energy companies will most certainly
not be adding all the fuel used over the winter to those bills the people couldn’t afford to pay before the winter.
All those people struggling to pay now will find it easy to pay a higher bill in a few months because the sun will
be shinning, the birds will be singing and the flowers will begin to bloom.
What is the alternative from the other bunch of politicians. The lot that call themselves the opposition. The
incompetent party as opposed to the nasty party.
Well they have a plan. Freeze energy costs until the election.
Yes that will help. People who cannot pay the bills now will have another year and a half of not being able to
afford the bills.
Plus when that time is up, what then? Huge increases, really, you think so.
Well so do I.
Over 30,000 people died last winter due to causes directly related to the cold.
The signs are that this winter is going to be cold, storms, winds, arctic conditions blowing in from the north.
We know that hundreds of thousands of people are already forced to ration heating because they are
struggling to pay their bills.
What happens to them over the winter when it is freezing or below?
How many of our elderly are not going to make it through this winter, how many men and women are
going to die because they are afraid of a bill?
How many people will freeze to death because they are scared to turn on a radiator?
How many people will suffer illness that requires the support of the NHS because they spend months
in cold damp homes, terrified of invoices they cannot pay.
How many people sit huddled under blankets, petrified of the sound of the letterbox because the
postman has delivered another demand they cannot pay.
Far too many for any nation that is civilised.
Far too many for any nation that is compassionate.
Far too many for any nation that is caring.
Sadly we don’t live in a nation like that.