One in four families dragged into fuel poverty
Research from the Department of Energy and Climate Change has confirmed that one in four families in the UK are now trapped in "fuel poverty" whereby at least 10% of their income is spent on gas and electricity. This figure has risen by 15% since 2007 and now takes in 4 million people although projections for this year suggest the figure could rise to as high as 6.6 million people. This is almost 3 times the figure from 2004 and is starting to alarm the authorities.
Despite the fact that the UK government has promised to address the problem of fuel poverty and energy prices, in reality little has been done to rein in the power of the UK energy companies in the short to medium term. It would appear that the authorities are more concerned about the future and funding issues regarding new nuclear power facilities required to meet UK energy needs in the years ahead.
As a consequence, more and more people are now falling into the fuel poverty trap and the 6.6 million people forecast for this year could well increase in the short to medium term. Whether the government has now left it too late to address the issue remains to be seen but more and more people are struggling.
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