Policy & Research
Energy
Paying for energy
The amount we pay for our electricity and gas has been rising over the last few years, with the average dual fuel retail bill for standard tariff customers now at £1,294. More and more consumers are having to make tough decisions and millions of people have to cut back on other essentials if they want to keep warm.
Consumer Focus is working with Government, the regulator, and the suppliers to have an open dialogue about how to rebuild consumer trust in the market. The industry is gearing up to invest some £200 billion in generation and network infrastructure, and consumers are preparing to foot the bill. We believe that now is the time to put accusation and counter accusation to one side and attempt to address common challenges that might benefit industry and consumers.
Consumer Focus believes a number of measures are necessary to reform the energy market including:
- A competition review of the structure of the energy market and moves to improve transparency so consumers can know whether their bills are fair
- Measures to boost the number of new entrants to the retail energy market
- A clear strategy to help consumers cut their bills and help those in fuel poverty. This must mitigate the impact of necessary costs for improving our energy supply, through effective energy efficiency, smart meter and social assistance schemes
- An end to cold call doorstep energy sales, with clear and urgent agreement between industry, Government and consumer groups on how face-to-face sales should be taken forward in future
- An end to complex and confusing tariffs
- The Big Six must treat their customers fairly, right from how they market products through to how they treat people who cannot afford to keep warm
Fuel Poverty
Research carried out for Consumer Focus in November 2011 by The Centre for Sustainable Energy estimated that just under 5.7 million households in England and Wales (25% of all households in England and Wales) are in fuel poverty.
|
England |
Fuel Poverty Status | 2009 | 2011 | ||
| Number of Households | Percentage | Number of Households | Percentage | ||
| Not in fuel poverty |
17,571,491 |
81.6% |
16,220,759 |
75.3% |
|
| In fuel poverty |
3,963,923 |
18.4% |
5,314,655 |
24.7% |
|
|
Wales |
Fuel Poverty Status | 2009 | 2011 | ||
| Number of Households | Percentage | Number of Households | Percentage | ||
| Not in fuel poverty |
936,437 |
73.8% |
843,259 |
66.5% |
|
| In fuel poverty |
331,983 |
26.2% |
425,161 |
33.5% |
|
|
Scotland |
Fuel Poverty Status | 2009 | 2011 | ||
| Number of Households | Percentage | Number of Households | Percentage | ||
| Not in fuel poverty |
1,596,811 |
68.5% |
1,391,650 |
59.7% |
|
| In fuel poverty |
733,010 |
31.5% |
938,171 |
40.3% |
|
|
Northern Ireland |
Fuel Poverty Status | 2009 | 2011 | ||
| Number of Households | Percentage | Number of Households | Percentage | ||
| Not in fuel poverty |
388,190 |
56.2% |
351,023 |
49.4% |
|
| In fuel poverty |
302,310 |
43.8% | 358,877 | 50.6% | |
| 2009 | 2011 | ||||
| Regions | Fuel Poverty Status | Number of households | Percentage | Number of households | Percentage |
| North-East | Not in fuel poverty | 856,385 | 75.9% | 788,884 | 69.9% |
| In fuel poverty | 271,519 | 24.1% | 339,020 | 30.1% | |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Not in fuel poverty | 1,787,013 | 80.1% | 1,673,057 | 75.0% |
| In fuel poverty | 444,182 | 19.9% | 558,138 | 25.0% | |
| North West | Not in fuel poverty | 2,289,717 | 77.9% | 2,076,177 | 70.6% |
| In fuel poverty | 649,201 | 22.1% | 862,741 | 29.4% | |
| East Midlands | Not in fuel poverty | 1,463,643 | 78.6% | 1,350,333 | 72.5% |
| In fuel poverty | 398,478 | 21.4% | 511,788 | 27.5% | |
| West Midlands | Not in fuel poverty | 1,655,924 | 73.8% | 1,527,264 | 68.0% |
| In fuel poverty | 589,004 | 26.2% | 717,664 | 32.0% | |
| South West | Not in fuel poverty | 1,817,978 | 81.6% | 1,673,405 | 75.1% |
| In fuel poverty | 411,080 | 18.4% | 555,653 | 24.9% | |
| East of England | Not in fuel poverty | 2,000,850 | 83.8% | 1,895,476 | 79.4% |
| In fuel poverty | 387,672 | 16.2% | 493,046 | 20.6% | |
| South East | Not in fuel poverty | 3,071,060 | 88.2% | 2,894,314 | 83.1% |
| In fuel poverty | 410,928 | 11.8% | 587,674 | 16.9% | |
| London | Not in fuel poverty | 2,628,921 | 86.7% | 2,492,210 | 82.2% |
| In fuel poverty | 401,859 | 13.3% | 538,570 | 17.8% | |
| Total | Not in fuel poverty | 17,571,491 | 81.6% | 16,371,120 | 76.0% |
| In fuel poverty | 3,963,923 | 18.4% | 5,164,294 | 24.0% | |
The full figures are available to download in Excel format here: Estimated UK fuel poverty levels in November 2011 (xlsx 247 KB)
Tariffs
In December 2010 Consumer Focus laid out our concerns about how suppliers construct, market and sell tariffs; see Letter to Ofgem Request for investigation into energy tariffs (PDF 1.9MB). We wrote to Ofgem again in November 2011 with an update on what progress had been made over the last 12 months with regard to these concerns. Letter to Ofgem on energy tariffs (November 2011) – amended Jan 2012 (PDF 3MB).
