Friday 23 November 2012

Energy bill a lost opportunity warns UNISON

23 Nov 2012

UNISON, the union for energy workers, said that the long-awaited Energy Bill out today, is a “lost opportunity” and a bitter disappointment for customers struggling under the burden of increasing energy bills.

The Bill says more about the tensions within the coalition government than addressing the key Energy issues that the UK faces going forward into the future said the union..

Matthew Lay, UNISON national officer for Energy, said:

“The Bill is simply a sticking plaster on an open wound. It is a bitter disappointment because customers cannot keep waiting for solutions to address the huge problems facing the energy industry.

“It is unfair and unrealistic for consumers to shoulder the massive levels of investment required to deliver a low carbon energy supply on their own.  Many families are already struggling under the burden of increasing energy bills and dreading the extra pressure of winter.

“Only radical reform of the way energy is produced and delivered to households will deliver some relief.  Too many people in the UK are worried about keeping warm this winter, let alone in twenty years’ time.”

1 in 4 households in the UK are now in fuel poverty, meaning they need to spend more than 10% of their income on keeping their homes warm. The problem is likely to get worse, with 1 in 3 households projected to be in fuel poverty by 2016. Only a sustained attack on the poor levels of home insulation will actually make inroads into the key issues facing the nation by reducing energy needs and making homes warmer at an affordable price.


Ends

Notes to Editors

UNISON is one of the largest trade unions in the energy industry with many thousands of workers employed doing a vast array of jobs. This includes workers in all 6 of the big supply companies and the transmission and distribution operators.

(This is a UNISON UK press release, online also at www.unison.org.uk )

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