Energy is an essential service that needs to be affordable to all. It is wrong that those in poverty can’t access energy at an affordable price or incur a poverty premium based on the way they pay for their energy. This is central to our response of this consultation by the Department for Energy Secury and Net Zero (DESNZ).
We are urging the Government’s Energy Policy and Strategy Statement to have a much more explicit commitment to ensuring that all households have access to affordable energy and a commitment that those on low incomes should never have to pay a “poverty premium” for their energy.
In addition to this, we are calling on the Government to ensure that low-income consumers are not left behind or disadvantaged during the transition to net zero in energy.
Our response to this consultation has been informed by our Participatory Action Research project with Toynbee Hall titled Net Zero Transition for Low-income Consumers: A Participatory Action Research Project. You can read the project write up here.
This is the first time that a Secretary of State has designated a strategy and policy statement for energy policy in Great Britain.
You can read our full consultation response here.
