Environmentally conscious SMEs are being offered the chance to reduce their carbon footprint and lower energy bills thanks to a new partnership between Royal Bank of Scotland, the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) and the University of Edinburgh.
The free course allows businesses to identify the simple, cost-effective steps they can take to reduce emissions and save on outgoings while also helping the planet at the same time.
Successful applicants will take part in three 2-hour workshops that begin by helping SMEs to understand their own energy and carbon usage data and how they can build their own tailored ‘Carbon Reduction Plan’.
The free workshops also explain how taking positive environmental action can result in lower energy usage and therefore lower bills. Organisations can become more cost efficient by making positive changes such as changing boiler settings, installing smart lighting systems, swapping to sustainable suppliers and upgrading insulation.
The scheme is currently accepting applications from all sectors, having already supported over 60 participants from industries such as manufacturing, charity and education.
Applications for the next cohort close on 3rd October, with a later session set to launch at the start of November also welcoming candidates.
Code Hostels completed the course earlier this year and has used the learnings from the programme to make sustainable improvements across the business, including buying more produce from local suppliers and switching to eco-friendly cleaning products.
Talking of his experience, Jamie Greig, Operations and Design Consultant at Code Hostels, said:“The programme was a game changer for us. As a business, when you start looking at reducing emissions it can seem like an incredibly daunting process, and net zero targets can seem a long way off.
“We found it really valuable to chat to the other groups on the cohort, and we quickly realised we weren’t alone in the challenges we were facing.
“Sustainability in the hospitality industry is a personal passion of mine and we know that many other SMEs across the hospitality sector are experiencing the same challenges as we had at Code. I now run my own separate business, Our Property Bear, using energy monitors to help hotels and hostels monitor and reduce their energy consumption.”
Judith Cruickshank, Chair, One Bank Scotland said:“Royal Bank of Scotland is delighted to work with the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Climate Change Institute to deliver a programme which can make a real difference to SMEs across all sectors.
“It offers the insight, learnings and access to experts to help businesses see the opportunities it can offer them – and see the potential tackling climate change could make.”
Prof Dave Raey, Executive Director of ECCI, University of Edinburgh said:“The Climate Springboard programme is inspiring. The great engagement and responses from participating businesses is a testament to the fantastic work of the team here at Edinburgh Climate Change Institute and our partners at the Royal Bank of Scotland.
“In simultaneously helping to cut energy costs and carbon emissions for such a wide array of businesses, they are delivering exactly the kinds of cost-effective climate action so desperately needed in every sector.”
The scheme is currently accepting applications from all sectors, having already supported over 60 participants from industries such as manufacturing, charity and education.
Applications for the next cohort close on 3rd October, with a later session set to launch at the start of November also welcoming candidates.
SMEs looking to learn more about their emissions and how they can start reducing them are invited to register their interest here. More information about the programme is available here.
Energy regulator Ofgem has today (Friday, 25 August, 2023) announced a further reduction in the energy price cap for the last quarter of 2023 (Oct to Dec).
The change will bring the average dual-fuel energy bill below £2,000 a year for the first time since April 2022, saving households an average of £151 on the previous quarter.
From 1 October – 31 December, the cap will be set at an annual level of £1,923 for a dual fuel household paying by direct debit based on the current typical domestic consumption values (TDCV) rate.
Direct Debit
Prepayment
Standard Credit
Economy 7 (electricity only Direct Debit)
July – Sept 2023 cap
£2,074
£2,077
£2,211
£1,400
Oct – Dec 2023 cap
£1,923
£1,949
£2,052
£1,298
The drop, the lowest level since October 2021, reflects further falls in wholesale energy prices, as the market stabilises and suppliers return to a healthier financial position after four years of loss making.
Ofgem is clear that it expects all suppliers to continue improving customer service, to support their most vulnerable customers and to shore up their financial resilience to prevent the kind of failures we saw two years ago. Ofgem recognises that there is some excellent best practice across the sector but expects this to be the norm with poor practice stamped out.
Alongside changes to the price cap, Ofgem has also introduced measures to reduce costs for prepayment meter customers and ensure extra support for those facing disconnection from the network.
The price cap savings – which can be passed on more quickly to customers thanks to the price cap updating quarterly – continues the downward trend since prices peaked at £4,279. However, it remains well above the average before the energy crisis took hold in 2021 and the market remains volatile.
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem CEO, said: “It is welcome news that the price cap continues to fall, however, we know people are struggling with the wider cost of living challenges and I can’t offer any certainty that things will ease this winter.
“That’s why we’ve introduced new measures to support consumers including reducing costs for those on pre-payment meters, and introducing a PPM code of conduct that all suppliers need to meet before they restart installation of any mandatory PPMs.
“There are signs that the financial outlook for suppliers is stabilising and reasonable profits are returning. With the small additional allowance we’ve made to Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT), this means there should be no excuses for suppliers not to be doing all they can to support their customers this winter, and to reinforce this we’ll be introducing a consumer code of conduct which we will look to have in place by winter.
“This code will ensure there are clear expectations of supplier behaviours especially for their most vulnerable consumers with whom suppliers should be reaching out proactively, with compassion and understanding. There are great examples of suppliers already doing this but I want to see this become the norm in such an essential sector that has such a big impact on people’s lives.”
Ofgem understands that while suppliers cannot control wholesale prices or fix the wider cost of living pressures hitting their customers, now the market has stabilised, they must continue improving customer service and ensure that support across the board is accessible, responsive and understanding, including giving time to make pay arrangements and directing customers to further support and advice. They must also invest in strengthening their financial resilience to protect consumers against the cost of supplier failure.
Additionally, while still low by pre-crisis levels, we are starting to see more and more competitive fixed deals coming onto the market and levels of switching are slowly increasing.
With a lower price cap and reasonable profits starting to return, there is an opportunity for this to continue to grow. Anyone considering fixing should weigh up all the facts and consider what is most important to them, whether that’s the lowest price, or the certainty of knowing exactly what they will pay each month.
It’s important customers are comparing fixed deals with the new, lower price cap announced today. Suppliers are expected to ensure they are transparent in releasing all tariff information to enable consumers to make simple comparisons of the deals available to them across the market.
While the price cap has protected households from the full extent of volatility and surges in wholesale prices over the last two years, it was originally introduced by the Government to protect the minority of consumers who did not switch rather than to cover the vast majority of consumers, as it does now.
It is a blunt tool and in the current market it has costs and as well as benefit. It’s important to look at alternative models to examine whether they could work better with the current volatile market and the move to net zero.
Ofgem has also today published:
A Final Decision to raise the Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) allowance by £10 per customer per year. Most of this increase is to cover Renewable Obligations ringfencing so that customers’ money is protected in the event of a supplier failure.
Removal of the temporary RO ringfencing allowance, worth £8 per customer and covered by the additional EBIT costs above
A new sliding scale for EBIT meaning if prices surge, the EBIT allowance reduces as a percentage preventing suppliers from making excessive cash gains from a high price market
Final decision on the allowance for additional support credit (ASC) bad debt costs – a new allowance to help ensure some of the most vulnerable consumers remain on supply this winter
Implementation of UNC840 in the cap, reducing the PPM premium
Price Cap model technical changes Final Decision
Levelisation Policy Consultation
By raising the EBIT allowance, Ofgem is taking the next step in its drive to make the retail energy sector more resilient, as we move into another difficult winter when price volatility remains a risk.
At the height of the energy crisis around 30 suppliers failed because they did not have enough capital in the reserve to stay in business – and the cost was shared among all energy consumers, adding £83 to bills.
With suppliers only now starting to recoup a portion of their multi-billion pound losses over the past four years, a small increase in permitted profit margins will allow companies to better cover their costs, attract investment and retain financial stability protecting consumers into the future.
Raising the EBIT allowance from its current rate of 1.9% to 2.4% from 1 October will involve an average £10 increase in bills per year. £8 of this will cover costs to consumers incurred by an additional requirement of suppliers to ringfence enough funds to cover their Renewable Obligations, protecting consumers from additional costs should a supplier go bust.
The EBIT rate, which is well within international norms for energy retail profits and lower than most other business sectors in Britain, will also be altered from a ‘flat rate’ to a more flexible model that tracks the price cap level and tapers as low as 1.75% in the event of another price surge in the wholesale market. This would prevent suppliers from making excessive cash profits in a high-cost market.
Strengthening the commitment to supporting struggling and vulnerable consumers, Ofgem is also reducing the cap for prepayment meter (PPM) customers by £51 per year through an updated approach to calculating the costs of unidentified gas, approved in April this year.
Using some of the benefit from this change, the regulator is now able to introduce an initial 12-month allowance to cover increased debt costs associated with Additional Support Credit that is offered to PPM customers, often at the point of disconnection. This new allowance will help ensure some of the most vulnerable consumers remain on supply this winter.
Longer term, Ofgem seeks to permanently end the PPM premium, where prepayment customers are charged more than those who pay by direct debit to cover the additional costs and resources required by suppliers to provide energy via PPM. A consultation is underway with an aim to ‘levelise’ these standing charges by April 2024 to coincide with the end of government support currently in place via the Energy Price Guarantee.
Morgan Vine, Head of Policy and Influencing at Independent Age said: “Today’s Price Cap announcement offers little comfort to older people living on a low income and struggling to get by.
“Our helpline is continuing to hear from people in later life in financial hardship who have been forced to make sacrifices to pay their bills, including eating one meal a day, washing themselves in freezing cold water, and risking falls by not turning on the lights at night.
“Gas unit costs are still well over double what they were in winter 2020/21 and electricity unit costs are up by over half. The fixed incomes of older people in financial hardship simply cannot keep up with these increases. Long term solutions to protect the most financially vulnerable from high energy prices are desperately needed.
“We’re calling on the government to introduce an energy bills social tariff for those in greatest needed, including people over 65 on a low income and those who have high energy consumption due to illness.
“This long term and sustainable solution would offer some protection to people in later life living on low incomes, so they aren’t forced to make dangerous choices now, and as we approach the winter. “
The next quarterly price cap announcement will be in November 2023, covering January – March 2024.
New union investigation reveals taking energy into public ownership would end the ‘scandal of energy company profiteering’
Last year bill payers could have saved £45 billion with average bills cut by £1800.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham to urge Starmer to reconsider Labour policy.
Taking public control of the UK’s energy network could reduce bills, reduce inflation, and pay for itself in a few years, reveals new research by Unite the Union.
Unite Investigates “Renationalising Energy – costs and savings considers how a publicly run energy network could use the massive profits of Britain’s energy giants to reduce household bills and fund the transition to a green future with secure jobs.
Unite Investigates’ report is the first to determine the potential costs and savings of taking public control of the entire UK energy network – including North Sea oil and gas production, electricity generation, transmission and distribution networks, and supply companies.
The report reveals that companies made £45 billion profit from the UK domestic energy system in 2022. If that money had been kept in public hands, it could have been used to save each household £1,800 on their energy bills. Read Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham’s interview in today’s FT.
Household energy bills have been one of the biggest contributors to high inflation. Using energy profits to freeze bills in summer 2021, when prices started to shoot up, would have meant inflation was at least 4.1% lower last year. So in due course nationalisation could markedly reduce inflation.
Unite’s report also investigates the potential costs of nationalisation. Using the ‘book value’ approach, which compensates companies for their spending, Unite estimates a total cost of £90 billion. That is equal to just two years of profits at the 2022 level. Even as energy prices fall, taking control of energy would pay for itself within a few years.
Sharon Graham, Unite General Secretary said:“It’s time to end the scandal of our energy system which allows profiteers to pocket billions while workers and communities are left in the cold.”
“For the first time we have laid out the full costs and savings of taking the entire energy network we all rely on into public ownership.
“It’s a tragic missed opportunity that, if the energy system had been run for the benefit of all not the profits of a few, households could have saved £45 billion, avoiding high bills that have left millions in the cold or searching for ‘warm banks.’
“It’s time to pull the plug on the energy profiteers. Unite is showing it’s no longer a question of ‘can we afford to’, it’s how long can we afford not to.”
This report follows the historic profits recorded by BP and Shell, who made a combined profit of £55 billion and British Gas owner Centrica.
Scheme will provide a discount on high energy costs to give businesses certainty while limiting taxpayers’ exposure to volatile energy markets
Businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity will receive a higher level of support.
A new energy scheme for businesses, charities, and the public sector was confirmed yesterday (9th January), ahead of the current scheme ending in March. The new scheme will mean all eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users will receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024.
This will help businesses locked into contracts signed before recent substantial falls in the wholesale price manage their costs and provide others with reassurance against the risk of prices rising again.
The government provided an unprecedented package of support for non-domestic users through this winter, worth £18 billion per the figures certified by the OBR at the Autumn Statement. This is equivalent to the cost of an increase of around three pence on people’s income tax.
The government has been clear that such levels of this support, unprecedented in its nature and huge scale, were time-limited and intended as a bridge to allow businesses to adapt. The latest data shows wholesale gas prices have now fallen to levels just before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and have almost halved since the current scheme was announced.
The new scheme therefore strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion. This provides long term certainty for businesses and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, said: “My top priority is tackling the rising cost of living – something that both families and businesses are struggling with. That means taking difficult decisions to bring down inflation while giving as much support to families and business as we are able.
“Wholesale energy prices are falling and have now gone back to levels just before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But to provide reassurance against the risk of prices rising again we are launching the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme, giving businesses the certainty they need to plan ahead.
“Even though prices are falling, I am concerned this is not being passed on to businesses, so I’ve written to Ofgem asking for an update on whether further action is action is needed to make sure the market is working for businesses.”
From 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, eligible non-domestic customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier will see a unit discount of up to £6.97/MWh automatically applied to their gas bill and a unit discount of up to £19.61/MWh applied to their electricity bill, except for those benefitting from lower energy prices.
A substantially higher level of support will be provided to businesses in sectors identified as being the most energy and trade intensive – predominately manufacturing industries.
A long standing category associated with higher energy usage; these firms are often less able to pass through cost to their customers due to international competition. Businesses in scope will receive a gas and electricity bill discount based on a supported price which will be capped by a maximum unit discount of £40.0/MWh for gas and £89.1/MWh for electricity.
Energy Bill Discount Scheme summary
For eligible non-domestic customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier, the government is announcing the following support:
From 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, all eligible non-domestic customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier will see a unit discount of up to £6.97/MWh automatically applied to their gas bill and a unit discount of up to £19.61/MWh applied to their electricity bill.
This will be subject to a wholesale price threshold, set with reference to the support provided for domestic consumers, of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh for electricity. This means that businesses experiencing energy costs below this level will not receive support.
Customers do not need to apply for their discount. As with the current scheme, suppliers will automatically apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers.
For eligible Energy and Trade Intensive Industries, the government is announcing:
These businesses will receive a discount reflecting the difference between a price threshold and the relevant wholesale price.
The price threshold for the scheme will be £99/MWh for gas and £185/MWh for electricity.
This discount will only apply to 70% of energy volumes and will be subject to a ‘maximum discount’ of £40.0/MWh for gas and £89.1/MWh for electricity.
The Chancellor has also written to OFGEM, asking for an update in time for the Budget on the progress of their review into the non-domestic market. He has asked for their assessment of whether further action is action is needed to secure a well-functioning market for non-domestic customers following reports of challenges certain customers are facing, including in relation to the pricing and availability of tariffs, standing charges and renewal terms, and the ability of certain sectors to secure contracts.
Businesses in England will also benefit from support with their business rates bills worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, a UK-wide £2.4 billion fuel duty cut, a six month extension to the alcohol duty freeze and businesses with profits below £250,000 will be protected from the full corporation rate rise, with those making less than £50,000 – the vast majority of UK companies – not facing any corporation tax increase at all.
New data has predicted that Kevin McCallister would have racked up a £66.19 (or $80.65) energy bill in his three days Home Alone if the film was set in 2022.
Although it was released 32 years ago, in many ways, Home Alone is a timeless classic. However, if you’ve started your Christmas movie marathon already this year, you may be shocked by the HUGE amount of electricity that young Kevin McCallister uses in his time ‘Home Alone’.
In light of the cost of living crisis, researchers at interiors brand, Bobbi Beck, have analysed the film to estimate how much money Kevin’s escapades would cost his parents if the film was set in the modern day:
The Bill
Researchers calculated that Kevin McCallister would have used at least 472.22kwh of energy in his three days left Home Alone. Based on the average residential electricity rate in his hometown of Chicago (Source: EnergyBot), Bobbi Beck predicts that Kevin’s energy bill would be AT LEAST $80.65 (or £66.19).
For context, in the UK, the average daily energy bill is around £2.70 (Source: Uswitch).
It is estimated that Kevin would have spent almost FIVE TIMES more than the average in his local area of Chicago, where the typical daily energy bill is $4.57 (Source: Energy Sage).
The Setup
How did Kevin rack up such a huge energy bill? We know that Kevin is alone for a total of three days (Source: IMDB) in a huge Chicago house, with six bedrooms and six baths (Source: Zillow). The house is apparently 4,243 square feet on a lot over half an acre in size (Source: Realtor).
Kevin uses a lot of electricity in his various schemes, from heating up the doorknob with an electric barbeque lighter to using a record player and toy train track to mimic a party.
However, the most significant energy usage comes from the lights, both indoors and outside. During the infamous booby trap scene, we can see that every single light is on, but Kevin does turn them off when he leaves for church (Source: Youtube).
To calculate Kevin’s energy bill, Bobbi Beck investigated three areas of electricity usage: outdoor lights, indoor lights and TV use.
Outdoor Lights
The data estimates that Kevin would have used £7.57 (or $9.22) on outdoor lighting alone if the film was set in 2022. With each side of the house stretching around 20 meters, around 10 sets of lights would be required, guzzling an estimated 54kwh for the three days (Source: Simply LED).
Indoor Lights
Kevin spent an estimated £58.59 (or $71.39) on indoor lighting. Researchers calculated that his home is 2.49 times bigger than an average U.S. house, meaning that they would have an estimated 99.60 lights inside (Source: Visual Capitalist).
The lights are likely to be an older, less energy-efficient model, most likely 100W in the estimation of Bobbi Beck’s researchers. They use 0.1kw an hour (Source: Ideal Home) and, because an average eight-year-old boy sleeps for around 10 hours (Source: Sleep Foundation), the lights would be on for roughly 42 hours. Therefore, Kevin would use 418kwh on indoor lights.
TV Use
Although it’s only a minor cost, researchers also uncovered that Kevin would have spent just 3p (or 4¢) on TV use. One of the most memorable Home Alone scenes sees Kevin watching a gangster film. He has a TV that is typically less energy efficient than a plasma and uses about 100 Watts of electricity (Source: Scientific American). An average film lasts 2 hours and 10 minutes (Source: Statista), so the gangster film alone would use up 0.217kwh.
James Mellan-Matulewicz, CEO of luxury wallpaper brand Bobbi Beck commented: “Most of us are currently feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis, with energy costs and food prices soaring. Not only does this impact our day-to-day finances, but it can also change our perspective on things – and Christmas movies are no exception …
“Home Alone is arguably the best Christmas movie of all time, particularly well known for its spectacular festive interiors. But when watching the film back, the amount of electricity that Kevin uses is really shocking! That’s why we wanted to crunch the numbers to find out just how much money he would have cost his parents in his three days of chaos.”
“We investigated Kevin’s lighting and TV usage to find that his energy bill would have been at least $80.65 for three days – that’s £66.19 in pounds. His TV use only cost a measly 3p, whereas his indoor lights have racked up a £58.59 bill. Given the average daily electricity bill in the UK is £2.70, it’s really shocking to see how much energy he used!”
These calculations were released by luxury, sustainable wallpaper brand Bobbi Beck, which provides a number of wallpaper designs to suit a range of tastes and personalities.
Support for households, businesses and public sector organisations facing rising energy bills has been unveiled
New government scheme will see energy prices for non-domestic energy customers such as businesses, charities and public sector organisations cut – protecting them from rising energy costs
government work with suppliers will reduce wholesale energy costs – and the significant rises in bills that businesses have seen
this support is in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee for households, with further measures today to strengthen support for families across the United Kingdom, including those in rentals or park homes
New support for households, businesses and public sector organisations facing rising energy bills in Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been unveiled by Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg today (Wednesday 21 September) – supporting growth, preventing unnecessary insolvencies and protecting jobs.
Through a new government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers (including all UK businesses, the voluntary sector like charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals) whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices. This support will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households.
It will apply to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022, as well as to deemed, variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. It will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, running for an initial 6 month period for all non-domestic energy users. The savings will be first seen in October bills, which are typically received in November.
As with the Energy Price Guarantee for households, customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme to access the support. Support (in the form of a p/kWh discount) will automatically be applied to bills.
To administer support, the government has set a Supported Wholesale Price – expected to be £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas, less than half the wholesale prices anticipated this winter – which is a discounted price per unit of gas and electricity.
This is equivalent to the wholesale element of the Energy Price Guarantee for households. It includes the removal of green levies paid by non-domestic customers who receive support under the scheme.
The level of price reduction for each business will vary depending on their contract type and circumstances:
non-domestic customers on existing fixed price contracts will be eligible for support as long as the contract was agreed on or after 1 April 2022. Provided that the wholesale element of the price the customer is paying is above the Government Supported Price, their per unit energy costs will automatically be reduced by the relevant p/kWh for the duration of the Scheme. Customers entering new fixed price contracts after 1 October will receive support on the same basis
those on default, deemed or variable tariffs will receive a per-unit discount on energy costs, up to a maximum of the difference between the Supported Price and the average expected wholesale price over the period of the Scheme. The amount of this Maximum Discount is likely to be around £405/MWh for electricity and £115/MWh for gas, subject to wholesale market developments. Non-domestic customers on default or variable tariffs will therefore pay reduced bills, but these will still change over time and may still be subject to price increases. This is why the government is working with suppliers to ensure all their customers in England, Scotland and Wales are given the opportunity to switch to a fixed contract/tariff for the duration of the scheme if they wish, underpinned by the government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme support
for businesses on flexible purchase contracts, typically some of the largest energy-using businesses, the level of reduction offered will be calculated by suppliers according to the specifics of that company’s contract and will also be subject to the Maximum Discount
A parallel scheme, based on the same criteria and offering comparable support, but recognising the different market fundamentals, will be established in Northern Ireland.
If you are not connected to either the gas or electricity grid, equivalent support will also be provided for non-domestic consumers who use heating oil or alternative fuels instead of gas. Further detail on this will be announced shortly.
We will publish a review into the operation of the scheme in three months to inform decisions on future support after March 2023. The review will focus in particular on identifying the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs.
Prime Minister Liz Truss said: “I understand the huge pressure businesses, charities and public sector organisations are facing with their energy bills, which is why we are taking immediate action to support them over the winter and protect jobs and livelihoods.
“As we are doing for consumers, our new scheme will keep their energy bills down from October, providing certainty and peace of mind.
“At the same time, we are boosting Britain’s homegrown energy supply so we fix the root cause of the issues we are facing and ensure greater energy security for us all.”
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We have stepped in to stop businesses collapsing, protect jobs, and limit inflation.
“And with our plans to boost home-grown energy supply, we will bring security to the sector, growth to the economy and secure a better deal for consumers.”
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “We have seen an unprecedented rise in energy prices following Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, which has affected consumers up and down the country and businesses of all sizes.
“The help we are already putting in place will save families money off their bills, and the government’s plans for businesses, charities and public sector organisations will give them the equivalent level of support.
“This, alongside the measures we are taking to boost the amount of domestic energy we produce to improve both energy security and supply, will increase growth, protect jobs and support families with their cost of living this winter.”
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality said: “This intervention is unprecedented and it is extremely welcome that government has listened to hospitality businesses facing an uncertain winter.
“We particularly welcome its inclusiveness – from the smallest companies to the largest – all of which combine to provide a huge number of jobs, which are now much more secure.
“The government has recognised the vulnerability of hospitality as a sector, and we will continue to work with the government, to ensure that there is no cliff edge when these measures fall away.”
Support for households in Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Today’s announcement follows the launch of the Energy Price Guarantee for households in Great Britain, under which a typical household will pay on average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October.
The scheme limits the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity, taking account of the Exchequer temporarily funding for two years environmental and social costs, including green levies – worth around £150 – which are currently included in domestic energy bills. The guarantee supersedes the existing price cap and is expected to save the average household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October.
It also comes in addition to the announced £400 energy bills discount for all households and together, they will bring costs close to where the energy price cap currently stands.
Today, the Business Secretary also confirmed equivalent support for households in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Energy Price Guarantee will offer households the same level of gas and electricity bill support as the equivalent scheme in Great Britain.
Households in Northern Ireland will also receive a £400 discount on bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme (NI EBSS), the same support as is available in Great Britain.
For the Energy Price Guarantee, the scheme will still work through electricity and gas bills. The scheme will provide households in Northern Ireland with equivalent financial support with their electricity and gas bills as for those in Great Britain. Energy suppliers will reduce bills by a unit price reduction of up to 17p/kWh for electricity and 4.2p/kWh for gas, and there is no need to take any action to receive this support.
This will take effect from November, but the government will ensure households receive support so they will see the same benefit overall as those households in Great Britain backdating support for October bills through bills from November.
Targeted support
The government also announced today further details on the separate Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) to ensure that the £400 discount to households starting from October will also be available to the 1% of households who would not otherwise have received this support.
Additional funding will be made available so that £400 payments will be extended to include people such as park home residents and those tenants whose landlords pay for their energy via a commercial contract. The government is committed to ensuring such households receive the same support for their energy bills. The government will introduce legislation to make sure landlords pass the EBSS discount on to tenants who pay all-inclusive bills.
The government will also provide an additional payment of £100 to households across the UK who are not able to receive support for their heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee. This might be because they live in an area of the UK that is not served by the gas grid and is to compensate for the rising costs of alternative fuels such as heating oil.
AFTER weeks of growing pressure, the Government has finally announced it will step in to help households and businesses from soaring energy prices.
Under new plans announced by Liz Truss, a freeze will protect tens of millions from bills hitting unmanageable levels.
But the policy, the first major move of Ms Truss’ premiership, comes at a cost. Not just will the Government have to find an estimated £150bn to fund the scheme. There are also fears that many energy providers could look to ration fuel if households don’t reduce their usage over the Winter.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been bombarded with advice on how to save money on our bills.
Here energy saving expert Jonathan Rolande, from House Buy Fast, condenses them into a brilliant a-z guide which could help households to save thousands of pounds a year.
Jonathan said: “The reality is the full impact of the cost of living crisis is yet to kick in and the full impact of the squeeze will probably be most acutely felt in the next few weeks.
“But there are steps you can take to save money which, if you introduce now into your daily lives, can also help you save money for the rest of your life.”
Here’s Jonathan’s A-Z guide on saving money:
Avoid tumble dryers. They use a shocking amount of energy, and can cost upwards of £300 a year to run based on usage twice a week. You can easily work out how much it costs to run a tumble dryer yourself based on your specific model if you know the kWh. As a more cost-effective alternative consider drying clothes outside on a washing line or even investing in a heated clothes airer which usually costs around 6p an hour to run.
Bleed your radiators. Not only will it release pressure on your finances, trapped air can make your radiators less efficient, so they’ll be slower to heat up.
Draw the curtains. It sounds simple but failing to do so means you can lose a lot of heat at night in every room.
Dusty condensing coils behind your fridge and freezer, which are used to cool and condense, can trap air and create blockages. This is not what you want. Keep them clean and they’ll stay cool and use less energy.
Exhaust fans around the home cost a fortune. Turn off kitchen or bath exhaust fans as soon as possible after you’ve used them.
Fill it up. Don’t worry I’m not referring to the petrol tank. Fill up the washing machine and dishwasher. Research by Thames Water and Gov.uk recently found that 68 per cent of households are only putting the dishwasher and washing machine on when they are completely full in a bid to save energy. It is a savvy move to wait until a washing machine or dishwasher is full as the appliances will use the same amount of energy to clean fewer items. So it’s smarter to wait to do fewer washes with more items, than waste energy on more half full washes.
Going away on holiday or a business trip? Make sure to turn off your water heater while you are gone. Otherwise it will keep heating the water in a “standby mode” costing you money in the process.
Hive is, in my opinion, the best energy saving app on the market right now. Use the app to keep track of what’s happening at home and set schedules or switch any home electrical device on or off rather than leaving them on standby.
Insulate your loft. I know it’s probably a job you’ve had on the to-do list for a long-time but now is the perfect moment. You can save hundreds of pounds a year by creating better insulation up there.
Things may be tight, but consider treating yourself to a jacket – for your boiler… The best come with a recommended thickness of 75mm and help keep your water hotter for longer and reduce your energy bills. A new one is easy to fit – the materials will only cost you about £25 and it could save upwards of £100-£150 a year.
The kitchen is a great place to cook up money saving methods. Consider using slow cookers and pressure cookers during the spending squeeze. They are more economical and you can batch cook dishes like stews, curries and soups that will last for days.
Loft hatches are the forgotten item when it comes to energy saving plans. Attach insulation to the top of it and create a seal with draught proofing around the perimeter. So many people spend a huge amount insulating their lofts, but neglect the loft hatch completely meaning lots of heat escapes up through the hatch. If you are looking for a really simple way to save energy in the home, then ensuring the loft hatch is adequately insulated and draught proofed is a great way to get started.
My Earth App is one of my favourite go-to apps at the moment. Originally created by researchers and students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology, the app is designed to help you keep track of your personal energy usage, your savings and your total impact. The app contains five main categories: electricity, recycling, travel, food and usage. It includes day-to-day activities to measure how environmentally friendly your actions are. These activities can range from small measures like recycling your glass bottles to larger tasks like switching your appliances with energy-efficient replacements. It also includes a diary for users to check off their activities and lets you visualise how small steps can add up to a bigger impact environmentally.
Nighttime rates are a must during this ongoing credit crunch. A few energy providers charge less for using electricity at certain times of day or night). These off-peak hours tend to be quieter periods when power demand is at its lowest, for example between 8pm and 8am. The name for this type of charging approach is time of use tariffs. The amount you pay depends on the time of day you use electricity. Ask your provider.
Nothing makes life better than a brew. But don’t overfill the kettle. Boiling more water than necessary each time could save you £36 year, based on calculations from the Energy Saving Trust.
Kettles will vary in the amount of energy they use, but you can easily work out how much it costs to boil a kettle by checking the wattage and price you pay for energy per pence/kWH.
Print on both sides of paper. A friend of mine suggested this to me last year and within a few months I’d saved a packet on my printer ink costs. So many of us now work from home and most schoolchildren need to print off work. By switching your printer settings to double-side you can save money double quick.
Flick on the quickwash settingon a dishwasher. The longer washers soak plates at a lower temperature so are cheaper
Radiators are generally set too high in most homes. turn the thermostat down in unused rooms. If you lower the temperature of your radiator down by just one degree you can save £55 a year.
Showers….Look, I’m not going to force you to get in and out in four minutes. If you can, great. One minute less in the shower could save you up to £80 annually.
But there are other things you could do too – like fitting a water-efficient shower head.
The Energy Saving Trust predicts that a water-efficient shower head could save a household up to £195 a year. One minute less in the shower could save you up to £80 annually.
Modern shower heads use current-limiting technology to save up to 40 per cent water usage, while showering under normal water pressure. This will cost you around £20-£40, but will save you in the long run.
Install tap aerators. These ‘inject’ air into the water as it comes out the tap, so while it looks like there is no impact on the flow rate, a fraction of the water is used. These are especially useful if you are on a water meter.
USwitch, Compare the Market and other comparison sites are a must at the moment. Look at them regularly – once a fortnight if you can – as they will help you check to make sure you’re on the correct tariff
The vehicles we own are increasingly being powered by electricity. Aim to charge your car overnight when you could benefit from a cheaper night-time rate for your power.
Wasting power is a no-no in the current climate and leaving appliances on standby is like pouring money down the drain. It’s widely reported that the average household could be wasting as many as 7,374 hours of electricity every year when a device is left on standby.
It’s easy to do. For example, many of us disconnect our phones but leave the charger plugged in. And some devices, such as TVs, don’t have an easily accessible on-off switch.
But leaving devices on standby uses up power – sometimes known as ‘vampire energy’ – and over the course of a year it can really add up.
These are some indicative annual savings, found particularly among older devices:
· Turning off the light in an unused room – £25
· Television – £16-24
· Set-top box – £20-23
· Games devices – £16
· Smart speakers – £3.45 per speaker
· Microwave – £16
And if you’re working from home, don’t forget about office equipment:
· Printers (particularly those with LED displays) – £3-4 a year
· Laptops – £5 (but make sure you shut down and switch off rather than simply closing the lid)
X4 – that’s the amount more you pay for electric heating compared to gas. If you don’t have a choice opt for infrared or if funds allow, try and push for a heat pump – these two types of electric heating are by far the most efficient.
Yellow light bulbs and other LED saving options are just a great way of saving cash. You can save £2-3 per year for every traditional halogen bulb you switch to a similarly bright LED bulb. If the average UK household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would cost about £100 and save about £40 a year on bills.
Replacing a 50W halogen with an LED equivalent could cut your energy costs by £75 over the lifetime of the bulb – not including the price all the replacement halogen bulbs you no longer need to buy; of a typical LED costs between £2.50-12.
Zap-map is a brilliant new app. It lists and regularly updates electric charging points for cars. You can download it for free and find available charge points locally by searching the most comprehensive database of charging points, plan journeys, share updates and pay for charging on participating networks.It allows you to locate the 33,000 publicly available charging points in the UK when you are out and about, taking the stress out of electric vehicle driving.
The months ahead are going to be tough, perhaps very tough (writes Prime Minister BORIS JOHNSON). Our energy bills are going to be eye-watering. For many of us, the cost of heating our homes is already frightening.
And yet I have never been more certain that we will come through this well – and that Britain will emerge stronger and more prosperous the other side.
Let us remember who caused this global surge in the cost of energy, and what is at stake.
Yes, we were already seeing supply chain pressures last year, caused by the aftershocks of Covid, and that was causing a rise in some global prices.
But by the end of last year we were fixing it. The world was finding the lorry drivers. The container ships were moving. We were sourcing the silicon chips.
What no one had bargained for was the decision of Vladimir Putin – and it was his decision alone – to launch a vicious and irrational attack, on February 24, against an innocent European country.
It was Putin’s barbaric invasion that spooked the energy markets.
It is Putin’s war that is costing British consumers. That is why your energy bill is doubling. I am afraid Putin knows it. He likes it. And he wants us to buckle.
He believes that soft European politicians will not have the stomach for the struggle – that this coming winter we will throw in the sponge, take off the sanctions and go begging for Russian oil and gas.
He believes we will tire of backing Ukraine and begin discreetly to encourage the Ukrainians to do a deal, however nauseating, with the tyrant in the Kremlin.
That would be utter madness. In this brutal arm-wrestle, the Ukrainian people can and will win. And so will Britain.
With every month that goes by Putin’s position grows weaker. His ability to bully and blackmail is diminishing. And Britain’s position will grow stronger.
We must and we will help people through the crisis. Colossal sums of taxpayers’ money are already committed to helping people pay their bills. That cash is flowing now – and will continue to flow in the months ahead.
Another chunk of the £650 is already due to go to the eight million most vulnerable households this autumn. There is another £300 going to pensioners in November, £150 for the disabled and £400 for all energy bill payers.
Next month – whoever takes over from me – the Government will announce another huge package of financial support. It is worth remembering why we are in a position to make these payments.
We have the cash to support families across the country because we have already proved the pessimists wrong.
I remember sitting in the Cabinet room for an economic briefing in 2020 as the waves of the pandemic broke over the world and we saw the biggest drop in output for 300 years. They told me UK unemployment would top 14 per cent.
They said that millions would be thrown on to the economic scrapheap – with all the consequent costs to the Exchequer.
They were wrong. After becoming the first country in the world to approve an effective vaccine, we staged the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, the fastest exit from Covid. As a result we had the fastest growth in the G7 last year and instead of mass unemployment we have about 640,000 MORE people in payrolled employment than before the pandemic began.
Instead of being at 14 per cent, unemployment is at 3.8 per cent, nearly the lowest for almost 50 years. That is giving us the fundamental economic strength to endure this crisis – as the Russian economy continues to melt down.
We are ending our dependency on Russian hydrocarbons. In June, for the first time in decades, we did not import any fuel from Russia. The UK has already stepped up production of domestic gas – 26 per cent more this year than last.
With every new windfarm we build offshore, with every new nuclear project we approve, we strengthen our strategic position. We become less vulnerable to the vagaries of the global gas price and less vulnerable to Putin’s pressure.
It is this Government that has reversed the apathy of decades and greenlighted new nuclear plants.
We are going to build a new reactor every year and will have a colossal 50 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 – almost half our total electricity consumption.
This British Energy Security Strategy is just a part of a vast programme to make the economy more productive and competitive.
In just three years we have increased the coverage of gigabit broadband from seven per cent of households to 70 per cent. We are strengthening the economic sinews of the country with the biggest investment in rail – three new high speed lines – for a century.
We have invested massively in skills, so that people can improve their qualifications throughout their lives.
We have taken decisive steps to make this the best place in the world to invest and start a business. We are axing dozens of burdensome EU laws – including Solvency 2 and MiFID, that acted as unnecessary deterrents to investment.
We are creating eight new free- ports, cutting taxes on investment and lengthening our lead as a science superpower – with £22billion of investment in science and a new Advanced Research agency to crack the big problems of our time, from dementia to zero carbon aviation.
All this is paying off in jobs and growth. In the first quarter of this year the UK attracted more venture capital investment in technology than China.
We have more tech investment than France, Germany and Israel combined and we produce a new billion pound “unicorn” company roughly every two weeks.
These new ideas are blooming not just in the golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London but across the whole UK as we drive forward our levelling up agenda.
We have laid the foundations for long-term gains in prosperity and productivity. We know we will bounce back from the crisis in the cost of energy as we rapidly build up our own UK supplies.
That is why we will succeed and why we cannot flinch now.
If Putin is allowed to get away with his murder and mayhem, and to change the borders of Europe by force, then he will simply do it again, elsewhere on the periphery of the former Soviet Union.
Other countries will draw the lesson that violence and aggression can pay off and that will usher in a new cycle of political and economic instability.
That is why we must continue to back the Ukrainians – and their military success continues to be remarkable. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown his country is fundamentally unconquerable.
Now is the time for the West to double down our support, not to go wobbly.
We have more than enough resilience to get through tough months ahead. We have shown that before.
And we have made the long term decisions – including on domestic energy supply – to ensure that our bounceback can and should be remarkable and that our future will be golden.
The week’s economic news has again been dominated by the implications of inflation, and in particular of huge increases in household energy bills.
Projections for the energy price cap have again been revised up. The latest projections indicate that the price cap could reach around £3,500 in October, and increase further to around £4,400 in April. It is incredible to think that the cap was £1,277 earlier this year (having now increased to £1,971).
Such levels of increases will have severe impacts on households. In Scotland, a quarter of households were already in fuel poverty in 2019, the year in which the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition, Strategy) (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent.
That Act determines that a household is in fuel poverty if two conditions hold:
First, that in order to heat the home to a satisfactory level, the household would need to spend more than 10 per cent of its net income on fuel; and
Second, if, after deducting those fuel costs, and other essential costs associated with disability, care needs or childcare, the household’s income is below 90% of the UK Minimum Income Standard.
The definition therefore is not based on what a household actually spends on fuel, but on what they need to spend to heat their home to an acceptable level.
The daunting projections for energy bills will undoubtedly lead to a substantial increase in fuel poverty throughout 2022 and 2023. Quite how many households will be in fuel poverty according to the official definition will depend in part on what further action the government decides to take. But it is clear that a broad swathe of low and middle income households will be placed under severe financial strain.
The political debates this week have again focussed both on the level and targeting of further support the government should provide.
There is a clear case for targeting. In Scotland, almost all households (96%) with incomes below £200 per week were already in fuel poverty in 2019; but amongst households whose incomes were above £500 per week, fuel poverty rates were negligible. Further targeting via the social security system therefore seems appropriate.
But it should also be remembered that the financial distress caused by the energy price crisis will extend well beyond the poorest, and further broader-based support would also be justified. This is where the delivery mechanism becomes more challenging. Government could subsidise bills universally, although this would be expensive, providing support to some households whose need for support is relatively less.
But trying to provide support to low and middle income households only is tricky. Using the council tax system is far from ideal given the weak links between council tax band and income.
Households in bands A and B are relatively more likely to be in fuel poverty, but over 14% of Scottish households in bands F, G and H were in fuel poverty in 2019. On this basis, using council tax band as a way to limit the breadth of financial support provided has clear disadvantages.
It now seems unlikely that the UK government will announce its next round of support for households until the Conservative leadership contest has concluded. Depending on the mechanisms it chooses for delivering that support, the Scottish government may be allocated additional resources of its own which it can prioritise as it deems fit, or the support may be delivered at UK level (via energy bills or the social security system).
The Prime Minister, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met industry leaders from the electricity sector yesterday to discuss what more they can do to help people struggling with rising energy prices– but the meeting did nothing to resolve the impending crisis.
The Prime Minister, Chancellor, Business and Energy Secretary stressed the need to act in the interest of the country in the face of rising energy prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and how vital it was that the Western world continued to stand by the Ukrainian people during their battle for survival.
The Chancellor and energy firms agreed to work closely over the coming weeks to ensure that the public, including vulnerable customers, are supported as unprecedented global events drive higher energy costs.
Government support worth £37 billion is being provided this year to help people with the rising cost of living, including £1,200 for the most vulnerable households over the course of the year and £400 discounted off everyone’s energy bills from October.
It was noted that the market is not always functioning for consumers, and extraordinarily high bills will ultimately damage energy companies.
As set out in the Energy Security Strategy, the Government has launched a consultation to drive forward market reforms and ensure the market works better for consumers. Discussion focussed on how Government and industry can collectively drive forward reforms to ensure the market delivers lower prices.
The Prime Minister, Chancellor and Business and Energy Secretary emphasised the importance of investing in North Sea oil and gas, renewables, biomass and nuclear to strengthen our domestic energy security.
The Chancellor added the Government continues to evaluate the extraordinary profits seen in certain parts of the electricity generation sector and the appropriate and proportionate steps to take.
The Prime Minister set out that it will be for the next Prime Minister to make significant fiscal decisions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine. We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.
“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.
“We are continuing to roll out government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost of living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “This morning I hosted industry leaders from the electricity sector to discuss what more they can do to work with Government and act in the interest of the country in the face of rising prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We have already acted to protect households with £400 off energy bills and direct payments of £1,200 for 8 million of the most vulnerable British families. In the spirit of national unity, they agreed to work with us to do more to help the people who most need it.”
The meeting was attended by representatives from:
EDF
RWE
E.ON
Drax
Orsted
Uniper
National Grid
SSE
ScottishPower
Centrica
Octopus Energy
Vitol
Intergen
Greencoat Capital
Energy UK
Scottish Government Resilience Room convened to discuss ‘cost emergency’
The First Minister chaired the Scottish Government Resilience Committee yesterday (August 11) to discuss urgent steps to mitigate the growing cost emergency which is affecting people and businesses.
Ministers assessed the current situation and likely scenarios in the months ahead and agreed a number of immediate actions. The Scottish Government will:
Continue to maximise the direct financial assistance available to those most in need, principally through ongoing work to extend eligibility for and increase the value of the Scottish Child Payment
Undertake an emergency budget review to assess any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy
Consider urgently all options within devolved powers for regulatory action to limit increases in costs for people, businesses and other organisations
Bring together energy companies, banks and food retailers to examine what further help can be provided by these businesses to limit cost increases and protect those most vulnerable
Work with partners to strengthen the safety net of emergency food/fuel provision, prioritising a ‘cash first’ approach
Provide further advice to households on using energy more efficiently and reducing consumption
The Resilience Committee will meet on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future to oversee and direct progress on these immediate actions and keep under ongoing review any further steps that the Scottish Government can take.
In addition to doing everything possible within its powers, the Scottish Government is renewing its call for urgent and substantial action from the UK Government including:
An immediate doubling of the direct financial support already provided, with payments made by October. It is estimated that for an out-of-work couple with two children, the payments already announced by the UK Government fall around £1,600 short of meeting the recent changes to benefits and living costs – a gap that must be filled
Cancellation of the forthcoming increase in the energy price cap, followed by urgent work between the government and energy companies on energy market reforms and associated financing options to ensure sustainable costs for consumers in the long term
The urgent introduction of an energy price cap for Small and Medium Enterprises
Support for business to prevent closures due to energy price rises and investment in economic stimulus to minimise the scale of the projected recession
A further windfall tax to ensure nationalisation of the profits being made out of the current pressures
Additional funding to support public sector pay increases and protect the recovery of public services from the pandemic
The First Minister said: “It is clear that the UK currently faces a rapidly escalating emergency that goes beyond simply the cost of living and is now a more general cost of everything crisis. This emergency may be of a different nature to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is on a similar scale.
“In the absence of substantial and urgent action, this emergency will cause acute deprivation and suffering. It will affect access to practical necessities for millions of people across the UK. Bluntly, it will cost lives.
“To illustrate the severity of the situation, the Scottish Government estimates that, even with current UK Government mitigations, at least 700,000 households in Scotland – 30% of all households – will be living in extreme fuel poverty by October. That number could be even higher, if the Ofgem price cap for October 2022 is above £2,800.
“It is essential, therefore, that the response from government at every level is commensurate, in scale and speed, to the nature and magnitude of the emergency.
“In developing a response, governments must first and foremost address immediate need. We must all focus on supporting individuals, businesses and jobs by addressing the principal root causes of the problem.
“Scottish Ministers are clear that the powers and resources needed to tackle this emergency on the scale required – access to borrowing, welfare, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits, regulation of the energy market – lie with the UK Government. This is reflected in the actions we have proposed and set out today.
“At the same time, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.”
