Amid the furore over household energy prices, this week was ‘Big Energy Saving Week’ with organisers Citizens Advice calling on householders to switch suppliers to get the best deal.
According to Citizens Advice, over six million children in the UK are living in households where the parents are worried about how to pay their next energy bill and may have to cut back on food shopping to make ends meet.
“Big energy bills and rising daily costs are putting extra pressure on household budgets that are already stretched thin. We’re worried that some people are finding themselves unnecessarily hard-up because they’re paying more than they have to for their fuel bill and aren’t getting all of the help that’s available to them,” says chief executive Gillian Guy.
According to a survey of nearly 2500 adults by TNS OnLineBus earlier this month, 62% are not having the heating on as much as they would like and 18% are not using some rooms in a bid to cut costs.
So this week, as part of the energy saving campaign backed by the Big Six energy suppliers and the Energy Saving Trust as well as the government and other groups , Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have been urging householders to check they are on the best deal, switch suppliers if they need to and install more insulation.
And despite Prime Minister David Cameron’s protestation that energy companies may be forced to put customers on the lowest tariff, Citizens Advice is urging consumers not to wait for market reform.
Citizens Advice says the average householder could save around £650 a year on their energy bills by switching to another supplier, changing to direct debit payments, using less energy and insulating their home.
For further information:
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/aboutus/bigenergysavingweek.htm
Related stories:
Ofgem unveils its plans for a fairer energy market (19-Oct)
UK energy firms have to put customers on lowest tariff… or will they? (18-Oct)
UK consumer group Which? calls for energy price review (17-Oct)
UK Energy Secretary tells consumers how to save on energy bills (15-Oct)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5491/
