UK 'could follow Berlin' to save energy prices says Buckley
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Whoever wins the race to be the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister will have a major challenge ahead of them- tackling the spike in household bills as a result of a global energy crisis. Latest figures by analysts have put the energy price cap somewhere in the range of £3,200, which will certainly put millions of families at risk of fuel poverty.
While both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have announced a number of plans to help cut energy bills, experts have called on the future Prime Minister to focus their attention on boosting energy efficiency measures to save bills.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Jess Ralston, a senior analyst at ECIU noted while a number of complex market reforms are needed, one thing they could do right now: “Is to reduce our demand for energy overall so that we’re not needing as much in the first place, and therefore we’re not paying as much for gas.
“That’s the really key thing they could do for the winter, insulate homes, make appliances more energy efficient, lower the thermostat on your boiler.
“All of the stuff that we’ve seen the government talk about but not really pushed.”
She also called for a public awareness campaign on energy efficiency “like they have in the EU”.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 350 English and Welsh councils, said households are paying £770million a year to heat properties without adequate insulation.
The LGA based its conclusions on current energy prices, with draughty windows, walls and doors leaking heat through unsealed crevices.
Altogether, they are paying an additional £250 for heating costs they could otherwise avoid.
Ms Ralston continued: “Insulating our leaky homes is one way the government could act to reduce our bills this year and every year.
“As the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said, we can’t hand out a £15bn package every year.
“Only stopping us needing to find and pay for expensive gas in the first place, through reducing demand with insulation and building renewables, will bring bills down, other red herrings like fracking simply won’t help.”
Meanwhile, Will Hodson, a consumer champion from the How To Save It campaign also called for more insulation measures, saying: “While I support the government’s £400 energy payments intervention to take the edge off bills, much more is needed to soften the blow.
“What will put real money back into consumers’ pockets is more energy-efficient housing.
“Hand-outs offer a short-term fix but investing in the insulation of our homes with a national insulation scheme would see massive reductions in Britons’ energy usage over the years to come.
“I look forward to the next Prime Minister putting forward their proposal to make British homes more energy efficient so we can reduce our bills and our reliance on fossil fuels.
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