THE devastating impact of climate change has once again been thrust into the headlines this week, with wildfires raging across the globe and a UN environmental report describing the situation as “code red for humanity”.
As if that wasn’t enough cause for concern, we also learned millions of households in Scotland will see their energy bills rise significantly when the regulatory price cap changes in October.
Yet according to Frazer Scott, Chief Executive of Energy Action Scotland, the challenges of climate change and fuel poverty can, in fact, be tackled together. “At the moment a lot of the money people in Scotland spend on energy is lost,” he explains. “It isn’t retained because their home is cold, or damp, or poorly-insulated, and so it doesn’t give them the warmth and comfort that they are paying for.
“If their homes were more thermally efficient then the energy they buy would be retained in their house, and for much longer, lifting their average room temperatures. You can put on an electric heater but when you switch it off in a wellinsulated home the room won’t cool down that fast.
“I think there is a real opportunity if we can increase the rate at which people’s homes are made more efficient. But the scale of the challenge is so vast, that to achieve the net zero ambitions we would need to be upgrading about ten times as many homes per year as what we currently are.”
With the Scottish Government setting a target of net zero emissions by 2045, and to reduce fuel poverty to 5% by 2040, Scott says that the country is at a “crossroads” in how best to proceed.
“I don’t think we can achieve net zero unless we solve the root causes of fuel poverty. The push for net zero has the potential to widen or reduce inequalities. Of course, we need to pay for net zero, but while doing so we need to eradicate fuel poverty.
“I’m optimistic we can do both, but I would like to see major system changes. At the moment, you have people paying for green infrastructure that they may not actually benefit from. Electrical vehicle charging infrastructure that has been provided to date has been levied through people’s energy bills, including the energy bills of people who have no likelihood of owning a car, let alone an electric car. They are subsidising the costs of the infrastructure for others, despite being the most in need.
“25% of an average electricity bill is currently made up of government policy costs and about 2-3% of a gas bill is the same. This unfairly impacts on low-income households. We think this should be moved into general taxation.”
Whether you suffer from fuel poverty or not, it is in all our interests to tackle it, Scott explains, as particularly high rates in Scotland are causing a major impact on our stretched NHS. “Fuel poverty costs the NHS £80m a year through GP visits, hospital admissions, and patients taking up a hospital bed because their home isn’t suitable for them to go back to because it isn’t heated.
“Fuel poverty in England is about 13-14% of households, whereas in Scotland it is 25% of households and is expected to hit 30% due to the Covid pandemic. It is higher here due to a combination of things: the climate is considerably different to other parts of the UK, our average income is different and we have much older and harder to heat properties. Scotland’s average fuel bill is already 55% higher than the UK average and price rises mean £215 has been added to the Scottish fuel bill in this year alone.”
The human cost of these rises is likely to be tragic. Scott relays stories of those in fuel poverty plugging in their microwaves into communal sockets in stairwells to save money, or elderly people taking long journeys on the Megabus to keep warm because the bus fare costs less than their heating.
“We have 2,000 more people that die in the winter than in the summer months. That is largely a consequence of living in fuel poverty, living in cold, damp homes that exacerbate respiratory illnesses. That’s six people a day dying because of fuel poverty. There is, unfortunately, going to be a lot of misery this year, as the increased energy costs come at a time when furlough is coming to an end and there are cuts to Universal Credit.”
Energy Action Scotland is doing their best to alleviate this hardship. As well as training thousands of advisors to help those in fuel poverty, it ran a campaign last winter to help 500 households in Scotland access energyefficient cooking equipment.
“This kit uses up to 70% less energy than a hob and oven. Many people on the lowest incomes don’t have the money up front to access quality, energy-efficient white goods but I think they should. We will be running another campaign looking to provide this kind of help if people could donate to us, that would be absolutely fantastic.”
And for anyone who is concerned about the latest price rises, Scott is keen to stress that there is help available. “Speak to your current energy supplier, as if they don’t know you are struggling, they won’t be able to help. There’s also local trusted organisations (housing associations, local government, local charities), Citizens Advice and the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Advice Service. They all can and will help people in difficulty.”
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