Welsh households to get help with oil and LPG heating costs: comment

Commenting on the news that thousands of Welsh households on low incomes are to get help with oil and LPG heating costs [1], Laura Dunn, Senior Associate at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “With the conflict in Iran sending oil and gas prices soaring, and analysts warning that energy bills could climb by nearly £300 in July [2], for many people in Wales history will seem to be repeating itself mirroring the crisis following Russia invading Ukraine. For the tens of thousands households in Wales which depend on heating oil to stay warm, and which don’t have the protection of the price cap, the latest crisis has already arrived.

"Additional support will no doubt be important for low-income households struggling with the soaring costs of heating oil. But with the IMF warning this week that the UK remains especially vulnerable to volatility in international oil and gas markets [3], experts are clear the best way to shield Welsh households from an increasingly uncertain world is by reducing their dependence on gas. That means scaling up the deployment of electric heat pumps powered by homegrown British renewables and insulating Welsh homes to ensure that they use less energy in the first place.”
 
ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Welsh Government: https://www.gov.wales/thousands-welsh-households-get-help-oil-and-lpg-heating-costs 

2. Cornwall Insight: https://www.cornwall-insight.com/press-and-media/press-release/fall-in-wholesale-market-lowers-price-cap-forecasts-but-big-rises-still-expected-in-july/

3. The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/energy-bills-iran-war-middle-east-reeves-b2948931.html 

For more information or for interview requests:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, t: 020 8156 5305, m: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net