Energy bills have increased by 75% in last decade
10/12/2014
A government report has shown that household bills have increase by 75% from 2004 to 2014, much higher than the rate of general inflation, 23%.
Government advisers have now warned that poor families in the UK will need more help to pay for heating their homes as energy bills rise this winter.
A report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has revealed that subsidies for clean energy will add an extra 36p per day onto household bills by 2030. Many households and energy intensive industries will need continuous help and support with insulation and clean heating. It is now expected that for commercial and industrial users, bills are likely to rise due to low-carbon policies by between 9% and 17% from 2013 to 2020; and a further 12-25% to 2030.
Ed Matthew, a spokesman for the fuel poverty campaign The Energy Bill Revolution, which strongly supports the CCC report, told BBC News:
"The situation is crazy. Insulation offers by far better value for money than road-building, yet we have just seen £100bn announced for infrastructure without a penny for insulation.
"We can't load the whole cost of insulation on to bills - many people just can't afford it,"
CCC believe investing in energy efficiency is the best way to reduce long term bills. The Chancellor George Osborne has cut total investment in energy efficiency from £1.4 billion to £800 million.
A government spokesman said: "Our policies are designed to keep the lights on, reduce polluting emissions and cut energy use at the lowest possible cost to gas and electricity customers.
"That's why we have installed energy efficiency measures through schemes like ECO and Green Deal to over 819,000 homes and a further 600,000 homes are set to benefit by 2017."
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