Peter Aldous writes for The Independent: This government has only just been formed, but faces a generation-defining challenge, and must act imminently to protect millions of people from poverty this winter and beyond.
Today, I am joining a coalition of almost seventy NGOs from across the charity and environment sectors in calling on the new Prime Minister to prioritise a national insulation plan and to expand cheap renewables in response to the cost-of-living crisis, whilst also ensuring that those on the frontline of the crisis have the direct support that they need.
Without further action, 7 million households will be faced with making impossibly hard decisions between a warm home and putting food on the table this winter. The situation is worse still for many deprived communities, including some of those that I represent.
This Government has only just been formed, but faces a generation-defining challenge, and must act imminently to protect millions of people from poverty this winter and beyond.
The direct support for households and the Energy Price Guarantee already announced by the Treasury is hugely welcome. However, for those hardest hit by the crisis, more support is badly needed to stave off the worst impacts this winter. I welcome the Treasury review of energy bills and hope that this will provide clarity on support beyond April as soon as possible, with energy bills expected to rise to almost 4 times the level before the gas crisis if no further action is taken.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact of global gas markets are responsible for this huge hike in energy costs, accompanied by a massive increase in living costs elsewhere in the economy and spiralling inflation. Meanwhile, energy bills are expected to remain high and volatile until the end of the decade. It is therefore essential that, alongside direct measures, medium and long-term fixes are delivered.
Thankfully, the tools we need to keep energy bills low for good are ready to go and very popular with the British public.
Firstly, we urgently need to cut our energy waste by fixing the UK’s leaky housing stock and slashing energy bills for good. Insulating our buildings is the cheapest and easiest measure we can take to cut bills. The Government should fund a proper national programme to insulate homes, schools, hospitals and workplaces. It would not only save households an average of £500 on their energy bills every year, but could also soon pay for itself whilst creating millions of jobs and stimulating the economy in the process.
Secondly, the new Government should ensure we continue to play to our strengths, increasing our self-reliance by accelerating the expansion of cheap renewable domestic power to cut energy bills. I have seen first-hand the benefits that the growth of the renewable energy sector can bring to communities. New renewable energy projects produce electricity many times cheaper than gas and renewable energy on the grid is already paying money back to the consumer. As the windiest country in Europe, we have used our comparative advantage and seized this opportunity for UK jobs, industry, and energy security, whilst tackling the climate emergency. The offshore wind industry alone is expected to employ 100,000 people in the UK and attract £155bn of private investment over the next eight years. Bolstering our existing, world-leading effort in renewables will not only cut bills for every winter to come but can also boost prospects for communities across East Anglia and the rest of the UK.
The new Prime Minister has a huge challenge ahead of him in tackling the central issue deeply concerning people across the country - keeping warm this winter, and for each winter after that. Therefore I urge him to take back control of our energy system and secure warm winters for good with clean, green energy and insulated homes.