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Up to 100,000 households could be lifted out of fuel poverty by an extra £225 million to help with rising fuel bills under a new initiative agreed by Britain's 6 major energy companies - Centrica, EDF Energy, EoN, Npower, Scottish & Southern and Scottish Power.
Under the deal, brokered by Energy secretary, John Hutton, households struggling to pay their fuel bills are set to receive significant extra help with the cost of warming their homes. A fuel poor household is one which needs to spend more than 10% of its income to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth.
The agreement follows Chancellor Alistair Darling's announcement in the Budget that the Government would, as a priority, secure increased support for households and means Britain's 6 energy suppliers' collective annual spend on social assistance will triple to £150 million by 2011.
The impact of this additional funding on the UK fuel poverty numbers will depend on how it's directed. If it's purely used to offset bills and is equally distributed amongst the poorest households, then it could help to remove up to 100,000 of these from fuel poverty.
Other scenarios may bring different benefits - for example, energy efficiency measures may benefit fewer but will be permanent.
The assistance will be targeted at households on low incomes who are most vulnerable to fuel poverty, including the elderly. Although the risks from fuel poverty apply to all householders, families with children and householders who are disabled or are suffering from a long-term illness, are especially vulnerable
11 April 2008 © Moneyextra.com
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