That’s an incredible feat. On top of that, Fuel Poverty Action has been shouting from the rooftops about E4A and getting in the national news – see the bottom of this update for a list of just some of the fantastic mainstream media coverage we’ve been getting, with so far over 70 appearances on TV and radio and in the press.
We’re also going out speaking to more and more people. Coming up, we will be speaking about Energy For All at two major trade union annual conferences – the PCS and UNISON, and at a rally and climate justice memorial outside the Shell Annual General Meeting on 24 May. In fact we have more invitations than we can fulfil so WE NEED HELP!! If you’d like to train up and join the team, please drop us a line at fuelpovertyaction@gmail.com!
There are lots of other ways you can help this campaign – including another push on this petition. Half a million signatures would be a powerful message!
6.5 MILLION households are now in fuel poverty!!
National Energy Action estimates that the number of UK households in fuel poverty following the April price cap rise has increased by 2 million, from 4.5 million to 6.5 million, an increase of more than 50% in just over six months. This means that almost a quarter of all UK households are in fuel poverty.
In France, energy bills have risen by just 4%. In the UK, it’s 54% - and counting!
Meanwhile, profits have gone through the roof, and so have pay packets and bonuses for energy CEOs. Together, BP and Shell made almost £24 billion in profit last year. In just the first three months of 2022, they made more than £11 billion. North Sea oil and gas bosses got a combined £25m pay rise in 2021.
High time for a Windfall Tax on energy companies' super-profits!
The UK is incredibly generous to oil and gas companies, resulting in oil giants like BP and Shell effectively paying negative tax in this country for years. In 2020, the UK was the only country where Shell operated that it didn’t pay any tax. In fact, it collected almost £100m from the UK government. Last year, as gas prices hit record highs, Shell again received about £90m more than it gave back to the UK. Shell has received £400 million from the UK Exchequer in net tax repayments on its North Sea operations since 2016.
FPA has been taking part in a coalition of organisations fighting for a Windfall Tax on the super-profits being made by energy corporations – something we first demanded back in October 2021. In March, Ruth London appeared on LBC, calling for a windfall tax on fossil fuel extractors saying 'they're making huge profits off the back of people not being able to afford to live.'
And since then the call for a windfall tax has been a major focus of our extensive media work. It is a way to fund Energy For All, and the insulation we need to bring our need for energy down. And we always insist that it must be just the beginning – the next step is a permanent end to fossil fuel subsidies.
Please consider signing the windfall tax on fossil fuel extractors petition.
Standing charges are unfair!
Fuel Poverty Action sent a letter to Ofgem challenging new discriminatory policies in advance of April’s price cap rise. Costs are being loaded onto the fixed, standing charge element of energy bills, which nobody can escape. It puts lives at further risk as people who are already rationing heat and power are forced to pick up the tab for industry failures, which Ofgem sanctioned.
On the 28th March, FPA’s anti-standing charge campaign was on the front page of The Guardian website.
Worst hit by the standing charge are people on prepayment meters, often the households with least to begin with, who have been facing a topping up crisis ever since 1 April, when prices and standing charges rose to new heights.
In Fuel Poverty Action’s mass letter writing to Ofgem, 1,260 letters have been sent so far - you can join this deluge and add yours now! - tell the CEO of Ofgem standing charge discrimination must stop now!
We will soon be discussing the standing charges issue and possible action (e.g. maybe a demonstration outside Ofgem’s London office). If you would be interested in taking part in some way, please email us with “Standing Charge, Ofgem” in the subject line. The address to send to is fuelpovertyaction@gmail.com.
Water is a right. So is energy!
Check out the new blog on the FPA website. Water is essential to life, so companies are banned from disconnecting customers, or imposing prepayment meters. Why shouldn’t this apply to energy as well? Please share the link so more people start asking that simple question!
Campaign t-shirts
If you’d like to advertise your support for #EnergyForAll - because #ColdHomesKill – please check out the new campaign t-shirts available now. They’re sustainable, powered by renewables, and plastic-free.
Teemill wrote to FPA and offered to help with this! Your order can help build momentum, and also gives FPA some badly needed resources - all proceeds, after costs, go to FPA..
Recent mainstream media coverage – also be sure to check out our twitter feed.
A few highlights from March, April and May (all links are available from FPA if you’d like to check them out) :
On 17 April I was featured in the Independent and the Metro talking about its success: Pensioner in home too cold for grandchildren to visit gets 350000 supporters in free energy petition & Cost of Living crisis: Thousands sign petition calling to make energy free
On 21 April, E4A appeared in the Guardian: People are struggling to pay their energy bills – here's a simple idea that could help | Polly Toynbee
Followed by: Fuel Poverty Action’s energy pricing plan is not just for the poorest | Ruth London
Earlier, on 23 March, I was featured in The Guardian reacting to the Spring Statement and its weak measures on fuel poverty.
3 May, Ruth spoke about the Windfall on Channel 5 news, c 5 pm Andy Bell (@andybell5news) / Twitter
4 May, Ruth was quoted in the Morning Star on the windfall tax, Energy For All, and Rishi Sunak’s plan to wait and “see what happens” (“We know what will happen, Mr Sunak. People will die. But they won’t be people in your family.”)
6 May, I appeared for the second time in another long interview on the Rob Rinder show on Talk Radio as well as another interview on Radio London.
11 May, Ruth on LBC News demolished the idea that after all, in the UK, there is help if you need it.
16 May, Alexa Waud on BBC News highlighted unjust standing charges and extra costs for people on prepayment meters. She also appeared on Times Radio, Talk Radio, LBC News, and the Jeremy Kyle show.
16 May, I showed the petition to the camera on ITV News Energy price cap could rise four times a year under regulator's shake-up plan | ITV News
17 May, Ruth was on Scottish TV (STV), LBC News and the LBC News channel calling for a windfall tax to fund Energy For All.
18 May, Ruth was on the Radio 4’s PM programme as part of a prolonged item about how inflation is affecting people on low incomes.