Discussing a plight affecting millions of households in England and Wales, Save the Children has claimed that childhood conditions such as Asthma may be caused or made worse by fuel poverty.

According to the charity, 45,280 families in Wales are eligible for the Warm Homes Discount, the UK Government’s latest initiative to increase the affordability of energy for homes throughout Britain. The problem highlighted by Save the Children is that many people do not realise they are eligible for the £120 discount, which was designed to help around 800,000 families.

Save the Children also argues that many families simply do not know how to claim the discount, meaning that the problem of fuel poverty is not being effectively tackled by government.

Head of Save the Children in Wales, James Pritchard, said: “It’s unacceptable that so many of Wales’ poorest families who need help heating their homes this winter will get nothing because energy companies have not put up nearly enough money.

“Without this help the choice for parents is stark: cut back on food, get into debt or risk their children’s health because they can’t afford to keep them warm”.

Mr Pritchard makes a compelling argument, but his concerns are likely to fall on deaf ears as the UK Government continues its drive to cut public spending. Energy companies, meanwhile, despite enjoying record annual profits, are hardly forthcoming in providing sufficient help for the most vulnerable households.

A household is deemed fuel poor if it spends 10 per cent or more of its income on energy. Following another economically turbulent year, millions of households in the UK could be described as fuel poor. If Save the Children is right in its assessment of the situation, fuel poverty could be doing far worse damage to children than previously thought; while proving a financial struggle for many parents, the high cost of electricity and gas central heating could be indirectly ruining the health of thousands of children.

Christine McGourty, the Director of Energy UK, which represents energy firms in the country, argued that the Warm Home Discount scheme had been adequately advertised to customers. Mr Pritchard, however, believes the problem is not one of promotion; instead, he believes the initiative has been “massively underfunded”.

Save the Children has hit out at energy firms, accusing them of not doing enough to help Britain’s most needy families struggling to meet the costs of rising fuel bills. 

According to the charity, energy firms have not committed enough funding to a scheme designed to help fuel poor households, causing thousands of families to miss out on much needed help

Under the Warm Homes Discount Scheme, some of the UK’s poorest families – which according to latest figures stands at around 800,000 – could be entitled to receive a discount of £120 on their home heating bills. However, thanks to a massive shortfall in the amount of funding available, only 25,000 families will actually receive the discount.

The Government scheme, which runs for four years from winter 2011/12, only reaches a mere 3% of families who risk falling into fuel poverty.

“It’s unacceptable that 97% of the UK’s poorest families who need help heating their homes this winter will get nothing because energy companies have not put up nearly enough money,” said Save the Children’s chief executive, Justin Forsyth.

“The scheme urgently needs millions more from the energy companies, or the cost will be counted in children’s futures,” he added.

Electricity suppliers participating in the scheme include the “Big Six”, as well as M&S Energy, Sainsbury’s Energy and Utility Warehouse, amongst others. Each supplier has different eligibility criteria which they use to determine which customers are eligible.

The Warm Home Discount Scheme, which the Government has estimated to be worth £1.1 billion between 2011 to 2015, targets people in receipt of pension credit, as well other vulnerable groups.

Eligible households receive a rebate of £120 in the first year, rising to £130, £135 and £140 towards their annual heating costs as recipients work their way through the four year scheme.

For more information, you can contact the Warm Home Discount Scheme helpline on 0845 603 9439 between 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

People who live in rented accommodation are more likely to be trapped by high energy bills, compared to home owners reports the Citizens Advice. 

Thanks to negligent landlords failing to energy proof their rented  properties by implementing energy efficient home improvements, more and more tenants are living in homes that hemorrhage heat, leading to higher than average energy bills.

Tenants have to rely on landlords to make sure their properties are well insulated, whether it’s by installing double glazing or having cavity wall insulation and loft insulation fitted to keep the heat in.

The Citizens Advice, together with Friends of the Earth are appealing to the Government and private landlords to help tenants manage their rising energy costs, particularly in light of energy providers who have recently increased their energy tariffs across the board.

Energy efficient homes cost tenants hundreds of pounds in unnecessary wasted energy every year. Figures released by the Energy Saving Trust have revealed that some 680,000 private tenants who live in properties with an energy rating of F or G are having to pay out on average £488 annually on wasted energy.

Any property rented out in the UK currently requires an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which rates the property’s energy performance from a band A to G. These ratings help potential tenants determine how energy efficient a property is. Come 2018, new rules will come info force which will make it illegal for any landlord to rent out a property that falls below an EPC rating of band E.

Depending on their circumstances, private tenants in rented accommodation may be able to get free or heavily discounted insulation. Tenants will usually need to get written permission from the landlord for the work, but it is a win win situation for both parties. Whilst tenants benefit from a warmer home and a reduction in their energy bills, landlords will see the market value of their property increase.

Fears continue to surround the link between green energy measures and an ‘astronomical’ rise in household energy bills. However, according to a new report from the Government’s climate advisers, renewable energy will not be responsible for adding the huge amounts people seem to think.

In a report out today, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has revealed that by the end of the decade household energy bills will increase by £190. But the report has rejected continuing fears that green measures – set to be implemented as part of an overhaul of the UK’s energy system – will see bills sky rocket by astronomical proportions.

According to the analysis by the Government’s official climate change advisers, charges set to be made on future energy bills for energy efficiency schemes and renewable energy generation will contribute around £110 of the increase. However, if would be even less if home owners were to implement a range of energy efficiency home improvements, such as fitting cavity wall insulation and loft insulation. So much so, the Committee has calculated that the rise could be reduced to just £25.

With various reports doing the rounds claiming that financing low carbon investments will cause energy bills to rise by shocking figures - up to £3,000 by 2020; a huge increase up from £1,060 for an average home’s gas and electricity usage in 2010.

“There have been claims that there will be astronomical bill rises in the next decade due to low-carbon policies,” commented chief executive of the CCC, David Kennedy. ”Our analysis disproves this.”

Adding weight to the report, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change said some campaign groups had made a “concerted effort to completely mislead the public into believing that green taxes have been the main cause of rises in fuel bills.”

Commenting on the report, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) agreed that the CCC’s analysis was correct in terms of past bill increases being primarily due to a rise in the costs of wholesale gas. The CCC found that between 2004 and 2010, electricity and gas bills rose by £455, and that a whopping 84% of this rise was down to the sky rocketing cost of gas on international markets.

An independent body, the Committee on Climate Change advises the Government on issues relating to setting and meeting carbon budgets.

To read the report in full, visit www.theccc.org.uk

To help cut escalating fuel bills, a prestigious golf club has undergone an energy efficiency overhaul, including the installation of a solar photovoltaic panel system.

While most golf clubs are heavily steeped in tradition, Coventry Golf Club has managed to combine old fashioned values with a very modern approach to energy efficiency, which has seen the club turn to renewable energy technology to help achieve cuts to both its energy bills and its carbon footprint.

After undertaking a thorough audit of their energy consumption, a survey was carried out to identify which energy saving measures would be most appropriate for the club. Most notably, a 16 panel solar PV installation was chosen to help save on electricity costs, and so far the club has been able to achieve a 25% reduction in its electricity bills, which in turn has resulted in a saving of 5 tonnes of CO2.

Thanks to the Government’s feed-in tariff (Fit) scheme, over the course of just 12 months, the golf club has been able to generate £1,500, with the system projected to generate in the region of £56,000 over the next 25 years.

The club has also invested in energy saving LED lighting and was advised of the energy saving benefits of using ‘A’ rated energy efficient appliances, as well as implementing certain behavioural changes to help reduce their energy bills even further.

“Understandably, in these economically challenging times, golf clubs nationwide are focusing on reducing costs across the board – Coventry Golf Club included,” explained course manager Phil Weaver.

“From our perspective the technology makes sound fiscal sense. Helping to save the planet while saving money is an absolute no-brainer,” he added.

According to watchdog Consumer Focus, the leading energy firms in the UK – often referred to as the ‘Big Six’ – have experienced a 26 per cent rise in customer complaints during the last quarter.

E.ON, EDF Energy and nPower were the subject of especially strong criticism after enduring a particularly poor period in the context of customer satisfaction.

Adam Scorer, Consumer Focus’ External Affairs Director, said: “Energy companies have repeatedly said they want to rebuild consumer trust. Good customer service and complaints handling are key ingredients to building consumer trust, but suppliers still have a long way to go”.

Mr Scorer added: “Complaints about EDF Energy over the summer have had a catastrophic impact on its rating. While system changes inevitably cause disruption to customers, this must be minimised. Its current complaints performance is unacceptable and the company must take further steps to tackle this”.

The high cost of domestic electricity and gas central heating is probably behind most consumer complaints in the UK, not least because customers feel they deserve higher quality service for the amount of money they spend on energy bills.

The feeling of resentment among consumers is hardly helped by news of the excessive salaries and bonuses awarded to directors and members of the Big Six. Head of British Gas, Phil Bentley, for instance, last year took home a basic salary worth £1.3 million – a decidedly paltry sum that had to be topped up with £2.7 million of share options. It ought not to escape the attention of the Big Six that millions of people in the UK suffer from fuel poverty as a direct result of inflated energy bills.

Labour MP John Robertson, who actively campaigns against the rise of fuel poverty, said: “What we are seeing is the subjugation of energy customers by the Big Six.

“These energy barons are treating energy customers like medieval serfs and as snow is about to fall and temperatures drop, you would expect energy companies would be doing all they can to please its customers. However, these figures show if anything they are treating them with contempt”.

An energy efficiency programme has been launched in the US, which aims to achieve a 20% improvement in the efficiency of its buildings by 2020. 

Launched by President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton, the Government will be investing $2 billion (£1.3 billion) into retrofitting federal Government and commercial office buildings.

More than sixty private organisations – including Nissan and GE – have signed up to the scheme and, as part of the Better Buildings Initiative launched earlier in the year, have agreed to  invest nearly $2 billion of their own money into efficiency projects, taking the total to $4 billion.

Speaking at the launch, President Obama explained how upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings would not only create thousands of jobs and help reduce harmful carbon emissions, but it was also one of cheapest and easiest ways to save the country money.

“So today, I’m directing all federal agencies to make at least $2bn worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years – at no up-front cost to the taxpayer,” he said.

Aside from improving energy efficiency through better insulation and more energy efficient heating, the Better Building Initiative should help businesses achieve savings of up to $40 billion (£25.6 billion) annually on their energy bills.

Trading Standards are warning consumers to avoid buying bogus ‘energy saving’ plugs, after receiving more than 200 complaints from people who have invested in the £99 plug-in device.

Claiming to be working with energy companies, fraudsters have been targeting people over the phone, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable, plugging the device which they say can be used to save a whopping 40% on energy bills.

However, following the complaints, the Trading Standards Institute has conducted tests on these so-called energy saving plugs, and not only do they fail to save energy, they also fall short when it comes to satisfying electrical safety standards.

According to trading standards the callers appear very credible and knowledgeable about their targeted customer. Even going so far as to know the name of their energy supplier and, in some cases, their credit or debit card details.

“Consumers are warned not to use the product as they pose a risk of fire and electrocution, and a safety recall has been issued for the items traced so far,” said chief executive of the Trading Standards Institute, Ron Gainsford.

“Unscrupulous criminals are using the rising energy prices as an opportunity to lure cash strapped consumers – elderly people seem to have been deliberately targeted. The number of complaints we are currently dealing with is bound to be only the tip of the iceberg,” he added.

It’s only after people have received the dodgy looking device, complete with a set of instructions in broken English, that they realise they have been had by the scam.

If you think you may have been duped into purchasing one of these energy saving plugs, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or Consumer Direct on 0845 404 0506. You should also get in touch with your bank to stop the debit or credit card transaction.

Householders looking for ways to reduce their energy bills and save money should consider the long term benefits of cavity wall insulation, loft insulation or fitting draught proofing.

Statisticians at Manchester University have produced a set of calculations that proves what most people in the UK already know: the big six energy firms have been profiteering for years.

The cost of domestic energy is a serious concern in the UK, where millions of households are described as fuel poor, which arises when a household spends 10 per cent or more of its income on electricity and gas central heating.

Energy firms such as British Gas and E.ON have been increasing domestic fuel bills for years, usually citing the ever-increasing cost of wholesale fuel prices as justification for the rises. According to statisticians at Manchester University, however, whole sale fuel prices rarely correlate with the increases charged by energy firms.

Dr Nathan Green of Manchester University said: “There is a clear trend and this shows a widening gap between the price consumers pay and the whole cost paid by the energy companies.

“When you take into account seasonal variation, random fluctuations and the time lags between wholesale costs rising and retail prices following, there is never a time at which the energy companies are losing money”.

The gap between wholesale fuel costs and domestic prices has long proved a source of frustration for consumers. Wholesale prices tend to spike rapidly before returning to standard rates. Domestic prices, however, increase rapidly in response to wholesale spikes, but tend to fall much slower. When wholesale prices fall, energy firms are notoriously slow to pass on the savings to consumers.

Although this point has been known for some time, Dr Green’s calculations put into figures what already had been expressed in words by disgruntled consumers, concerned charities and an outraged but ultimately toothless energy watchdog.

According to Dr Green, the big six energy firms were charging an average £1.93 per 100 kilowatt hour more than the wholesale price in early 2004. This figure jumped to more than £4.00 by 2010, falling only to £2.73 in the summer of 2011, shortly before energy firms sought to increase bills even further. Lobbyists have since vowed to end energy firms’ shameful profiteering.

In the meantime, households can reduce domestic energy bills by installing loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and the latest energy efficient boilers with new thermostatic controls.

The Guardian has revealed that a quarter of households in the UK are affected by fuel poverty, with figures for England alone showing more than five million homes suffering as a result of stagnating incomes and huge rises in energy prices.

To be classed as fuel poor, households have to spend 10% or more of their income on gas and electricity. Whilst the previous Government had estimated that 2011 would see 4.1 million households affected by fuel poverty, those estimations were calculated prior to the huge price hikes in energy bills announced in the summer.

The news that one in four households are now classed as fuel poor means that the Government will almost certainly fall short of meeting its statutory obligation to stamp out fuel poverty by 2016.

The new figures – based on actual bills, rather than estimations – also reveals sharp regional differences in levels of fuel poverty across England and Wales. People in Wales are struggling more than anywhere else in the UK, with Wales the fuel poverty capital of Britain. An additional half a million households – over 40% of the total – are now fuel poor. In the West Midlands fuel poverty levels are at more than 30% compared to the south-east which has 17%.

While the average household energy bill for a medium energy user in UK for is £1,293 a year, for those who live in Wales it’s £1,312.

The revelation comes days after the Fuel Poverty Action Group  staged a ‘die-in’ outside the head offices of energy giant EDF Energy, to highlight fuel poverty related winter deaths. With more and more of us struggling to meet the demands of rising gas and electricity bills, some people literally have to choose between heating their home or eating because they cannot afford to do both.