An issue affecting all of us in Crawley is the rising cost of energy bills, which is a result of global challenges including Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine and consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In her first couple of days in office the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, announced a range of decisive measures to not only support people and businesses with energy bills but to also address the root causes of the issues in the UK energy market by increasing supply, and ensuring our country is not put in this position again.
Under the Prime Minister’s plans, a typical UK household will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years, with the Energy Price Guarantee due to come in shortly.
The initiative will limit the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas. This takes account of temporarily removing green levies, worth around £150, from household bills, with the Guarantee superseding the existing energy price cap.
This will save the average household £1,000 a year, based on current energy prices.
The Energy Price Guarantee is in addition to the previously-announced £400 energy bills discount for all households. Combined, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have confirmed the measures will bring costs close to where the energy price cap stands today.
Households which do not pay direct for mains gas and electricity, including those on heat networks, are to be no worse off and will receive support through a new fund.
Businesses and other non-domestic energy users such as charities and public sector organisations will benefit from a new six-month scheme which will offer equivalent support as is being provided for consumers.
This will offer protection from increasing energy costs, and give the certainty required to plan ahead.
Such support will help in the months and years to come but wider reform is required going forward.
A new Energy Supply Taskforce, led by the former head of the Covid-19 Vaccine Taskforce, has already started negotiations with domestic and international suppliers to agree long-term contracts that reduce the price they charge for energy and also increase security of its supply. Negotiations will take place with renewable producers to reduce their prices too.
The Prime Minister has been clear in the House of Commons that in order to fix domestic supply, our country must be bold, to ensure the UK is a net energy exporter by 2040.
The Government will work to fix longstanding problems within energy regulation, and will bring forward fundamental reforms to make our energy market fit for the challenges our nation faces today.
Henry Smith MP