Parliamentary Bill led by Inverness MP Drew calls on UK government to introduce new measures to prevent households in areas without mains gas paying additional energy costs
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Households should not be burdened with additional energy costs if they are in an area without a mains gas supply, a Highland MP has told Westminster.
Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, led a 10-minute rule Bill calling on the UK government to end geographical energy price discrimination.
In his Energy Pricing (Off Gas Grid Households) Bill, he urged the Secretary of State and Ofgem to introduce new measures to prevent households being burdened with additional costs for living in an area without mains gas.
The current price cap, introduced by the UK government and Ofgem, is based on the assumption that a household’s energy consumption is split 80 per cent gas and 20 per cent electricity.
But 17 per cent of UK households currently live in an off-gas area. In the Highlands, more than 60 per cent of homes in the region do not have access to mains gas.
As a result, off-grid homes are forced to pay three to four time more on their energy bills than the average UK household.
The issue has also been highlighted by the Inverness Courier as part of our End The Chill campaign to tackle fuel poverty in the Highlands where 33 per cent of all households live in fuel poverty and 22 per cent are deemed to be in extreme fuel poverty – making it one of Scotland’s worst-affected regions.
Price cap fails to consider additional costs on households without mains gas
Mr Hendry’s bill has won the support of fellow Highland MPs Ian Blackford and Jamie Stone.
Mr Hendry said: “The UK government and Ofgem’s price cap has failed to consider this additional cost burden on households without mains gas.
“As a result, through no fault of their own, off-grid homes are set to pay energy bills of somewhere between three to four times more than the ‘average’ UK household for the same amount of domestic energy consumption.
“This is unacceptable that households across the Highlands and Islands continue to carry the burden of unfair energy surcharges.
“Households should not be punished for living in an off-grid area. It is time for the UK government to act.
“I am glad to have the support of other Highland MPs on this issue and will continue to work with them and the Highlands and Islands Housing Association’s Affordable Warmth Group to ensure the voice of our communities is heard loud and clear at Westminster.”
The Inverness Courier has also launched a petition demanding the UK government put an immediate end to the unfair higher electricity charges imposed on everyone living in the Highlands and Islands.
Although the region exports 227 per cent more clean, green electricity to the National Grid than it requires to meet its own internal demand requirements, consumers are still charged the highest unit price in the UK because of the outdated and very unfair way that the region's distribution and environmental-impact costs are still calculated.
The petition can be found at www.change.org/EndUnfairElectricityCharges.
Rising energy costs causing catastrophic damage to people's lives and wellbeing
