The Scourge of Fuel Poverty

A friend got in touch as a result of my recent postings on home energy efficiency. He is a pensioner who lives on an island in a recently built and well insulated ‘eco flat’ owned by a housing association. In common with most of Scotland’s islands mains gas isn’t available and so his flat has electric heating. As an environmentally conscious citizen he had signed up to an energy supplier who provided all their electricity from renewable sources.

As a consequence of the huge differential in price between natural gas and electricity ( electricity is approximately 5 times more expensive per kWh than gas ), despite living in a modern, well insulated and fairly small flat he was suffering from fuel poverty. The definition of fuel poverty was changed a few years ago but it roughly equates to spending more than 10% of your income on fuel.

Scotland suffers significantly more from fuel poverty than the rest of the UK by virtue of its harsher climate and generally lower incomes with around 25% of households in this category.

Even worse, Scotland’s Islands suffer from fuel poverty to a much greater extent than mainland Scotland. This is partly because natural gas is not available on most of our islands, partly because other fuels are expensive due to transport costs and partly because incomes are low.  Orkney for example has the greatest proportion of fuel poverty in the UK with over 60% of households in this category. The Western isles are not far behind with fuel poverty affecting around 55% of households. Many of our other islands have similar statistics.

The 2013 Baringa report commissioned jointly by the Scottish and UK governments identified that Scotland’s islands have the renewable energy potential to produce around 20% of the UK’s electricity demand. In the cruelest of ironies our islands are literally bathed in renewable energy and yet they suffer from severe fuel poverty. Orkney, for example, has been generating more than 100% of its electricity from renewables for well over a decade.

Even the most ardent of unionists would have to admit that this is not what good government looks like. Any fair minded and reasonable person would see immediately that there is a question of morality as well as competence at the heart of this misgovernment and, to be crystal clear, the fault lies fairly and squarely at the Downing Street doorstep of the UK Government.

That is because the Scottish Government has virtually no energy powers, these being almost entirely reserved to Westminster. Such energy powers that the Scottish government possesses are held by virtue of the Scottish planning system which is wholly devolved. In setting planning policy we can say no to new nuclear power and fracking and by dint of planning practice yes or no to wind farms, but that is pretty much the extent of our energy powers.

All the more puzzling then that in the early days of the Scottish Parliament, First Minister Jack McConnell pledged to end fuel poverty by 2016. I don’t blame Jack at all for having this worthy ambition, but it highlights the ineffectiveness of the Scottish Parliament that the attempt failed miserably. Fuel poverty is actually worse now than it was back then. We simply don’t control the necessary levers of power.

The continuing powerlessness of our Scottish Parliament is perhaps expressed well by the current fuel poverty target enshrined in 2019 legislation which aims to reduce fuel poverty to 5% by 2040. In an energy rich country like Scotland this seems a dismally low level of ambition.  

Of course it is pensioners and those on low incomes who suffer most from fuel poverty. The situation is not helped by the UK having the lowest state pensions of any OECD country at around 29% of average income. This compares with the OECD average pension which is 63% of average earnings.

The recent gas price hike has caused my island dwelling friend’s supplier to go into liquidation. He is able, savvy and IT literate and immediately scanned the market for a new supplier. The best deal he could find meant an increase of 45% on his annual energy cost.

Fuel poverty is going to bite even more deeply this coming winter. Frail folks will be carried off before their time. Children whose infant years are tragically blighted by cold and damp will never fulfil their potential. We have already waited far too long for a remedy that never comes.

The only cure is Independence. The need is urgent and pressing. There is no excuse for continuing postponement and further prevarication. These are just some of the reasons why Alba is campaigning for action on Independence. Yes supporters are increasingly realising this too and disinclined to be fooled by further false promises.

That is why Alba is rising.