WOOD SMOKE IN THE EVENING…

I noticed it again as I was walking home the other evening in the dense fog having been out leafleting. I first began to notice it the winter before last when going to and coming from work. 

It took a while to make the connection, which may relate to a combination of the time I then had to get up to go to work and that grim pre-serious coffee state of mind. It ties in with cold snaps and also the housing stock – the ‘it’ in question is the smell of wood smoke.

When it is particularly cold the smell of wood smoke in certain parts of Newport can be overwhelming in both the morning and the early evening. The smell of wood smoke rather than a sign of affluence is actually a sign of austerity. It shows that people are up against it when it comes to heating their homes and trying to save money. 

If you are lucky enough to live in an older house, anything pre- 1970’s then you may be lucky enough to still have old fireplaces in situ, which are so I observe increasingly being put back into operation. A resultant increased demand for firewood, may explain what a few friends have said in recent years about periodic spikes in the price of firewood. More people are struggling to pay their heating bills and being reduced to making a potentially grim choice or heat or eat. 

For people who live in rural areas things can be grimmer, then for a start most are not on mains gas, so energy bills can be equally as grim in rural areas as well. Here it can literally come down to a choice of leaving the heating off to save money and choosing to put food on. In Wales around 400,000 customers are not on mains gas, and they often face higher energy prices having very little consumer protection.

Welsh families face the highest energy bills in the UK whilst more than a quarter of households in our country are classified in fuel poverty – this means that they spend a high proportion of their income on heating their homes. The Labour in Wales government promised to eliminate fuel poverty by 2018, but it is widely accepted that this target, like so many others, just will not be met.

The Party of Wales has already announced ambitious plans to help families bring down their energy bills. A Plaid Cymru government would introduce the biggest home retrofitting scheme Wales has ever seen, so that people can access support to better insulate their homes. Under Plaid Cymru’s plans, we can bring families out of fuel poverty, boost the economy and put money back in people’s pockets.

Plaid Cymru has set out its plans to reverse Wales’ status as one of the most fuel poor nations within the UK. Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Environment rightly said that it is scandalous that more than a quarter of households in Wales are in fuel poverty and that energy prices in Wales are up to 10% higher than elsewhere.

This is largely down to poor energy infrastructure, and old housing stock and a failure to tackle abuses in the market. A Plaid Cymru government, if elected in May, would drive down home energy bills by introducing the biggest retrofitting scheme Wales has ever seen, and establish a not for profit arms-length energy company to drive down market prices.

ED HAS SPOKEN…

Ed has spoken out about the failure of the energy companies to pass on cuts in their domestic retails bills to customers after the falls in the price of wholesale gas and the energy companies have trembled. All well and good, it is more than reasonable for the energy regulator Ofgem to be given new powers to force firms to cut gas and electricity bills - to reflect falls in wholesale energy prices.

Since June last year, oil prices have gone down by 50% and wholesale energy prices have dipped by 30%. But the prices being paid by households to heat their homes have not fallen at anything like that speed. 

While EON is the first of the big 6 energy cartel members to cut their domestic energy bills, it is probably fair to say that this was not driven by an Ed inspired pre panic. Energy UK – the energy supplier’s trade body’s pronouncement that they (the energy companies) are already passing on price cuts to customers. Ofgem at present does not have the power to force a reduction in prices. It is worth noting that Wholesale energy costs have been dropping in recent months, with the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil falling to below $49 dollars this week.

The Labour leader has said that he would demand fast-track legislation on energy in a House of Commons debate next week. When he served as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 3^rd October 2008 until 11^thMay 2010, he showed no great desire to regulate the unscrupulous activities of the energy cartel on our behalf. We have been here before with mumbled words of condemnation from the former New Labour energy minister calling for the energy cartels to pass on the benefits of wholesale energy price falls to its customers. 

Warm words aside, Westminster is incapable or unwilling to deal with this problem, so perhaps it’s time for a home grown solution to the problem. We need a new Welsh national energy company, an Ynni Cymru to break the stranglehold of the Big Six energy cartel members on the energy market.

We in Wales, need a ‘not for dividend profit’ company, as with Glas Cymru works within our water industry. This would firmly ensure that customers come before shareholders dividends and the City of London and that all the profits would be reinvested back into the energy sector in our country, ensuring that Welsh families, households and small and larger businesses get a good deal on their energy and our country will end up with secure sustainable energy supplies. 

WOOD SMOKE IN THE MORNING

I first began to notice it last winter when going to and coming from work. It took a while to make the connection, which may relate to a combination of the time I have to get up to go to work and that grim pre-serious coffee state of mind. It ties in with cold snaps and also the housing stock – the ‘it’ in question is the smell of wood smoke. When it is particularly cold the smell of wood smoke in certain parts of Newport and Treforest can be overwhelming in both the morning and the early evening.

The smell of wood smoke rather than a sign of affluence is a sign of austerity. It’s a sign that people are up against it when it comes to heating their homes and trying to save money. If you are lucky enough to live in an older house, anything pre- 1970’s then you may be lucky enough to still have old fireplaces in situ, which are so I observe increasingly being put back into operation. The increased demand for firewood, may explain what a few friends have said in recent years about periodic spikes in the price of firewood. 

Rather than affluence i.e. wood burners, this is a visible symptom of austerity. More people are struggling to pay their heating bills and are being reduced to making a grim choice or heat or eat, but does not need to be this way. In Wales we pay on average 5-10% more for our energy than elsewhere and some 30% of households are living with fuel poverty.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to re-open an old fireplace and make use of an alternative source of heating or well off enough not to have to worry about your heating bills then there is a fair chance that you are living in one of our urban areas. For people who live in rural areas, then for a start they are not on mains gas – energy bills can be pretty grim for urban residents.

The situation is even worse for those customers living in rural areas who are off the mains gas supply. Here it can literally come down to a choice of leaving the heating off to save money and choosing to put food on. In Wales around 400,000 customers are not on mains gas, and they often face higher energy prices having very little consumer protection.

Plaid Cymru wants to speed up the government’s slow commitment to provide mains gas for households. At this rate it would take approximately 100 years to get those within a 1km of the grid linked up.  People can’t afford their heating bills now – we need to act more quickly. They are asking people who want mains gas to come forward and sign up to the campaign at www.offgridcymru.org so that they can press for action on their behalf.

HEAT OR EAT

In Wales, we pay on average 5-10% more for our energy than elsewhere and it has been estimated that 30% of households in Wales are living with fuel poverty. There are many reasons for this, but on top of our lower wages, it means that one in four households are in fuel poverty. Plaid Cymru already has plans to establish a publicly owned and not-for-dividend energy company will be able to offer lower energy prices to customers.

Now it’s not just customers who are on the mains who get hit with excessively high domestic energy bills, the situation is even worse for those customers living in rural areas (like significant parts of Monmouthshire) who are off the mains gas supply. Here it can literally come down to a choice of leaving the heating off to save money and choosing to put food on. Some 400,000 Welsh customers are not connected to the gas mains, and as a result they often face higher energy prices and have very little consumer protection. 

Plaid Cymru’s http://www.offgridcymru.org website will help to give people the opportunity to come together so that we can try to help them pool together and get a better deal for their energy. There is a real need for better consumer protection for off-grid customers. As the winter draws in, people across Wales will face the prospect of higher heating bills, but does not need to be this way. Plaid Cymru’s pioneering plans can bring down energy bills for customers all over Wales, fight for a better deal for us.

INDIFFERENT, INCAPABLE OR UNWILLING…

That cold nip in the morning is a reminder that winter is coming; as the evenings draw in and days get colder we should prepare ourselves for the annual energy company price hike. I have no doubt that the big energy cartel members, known collectively as the ‘big 6’, will take advantage of the relative lack of regulation to raise their prices to rake in the cash at our expense once again.

Sadly this state of affairs is something that we have all become used to with an effectively unregulated energy market and little action beyond weak weasel words from successive Labour or Conservative / Liberal Democrat Westminster governments. This winter, as previously people will be put into a situation where they have to make a stark choice between heating their homes and putting food on the table.

The Westminster elite is perhaps more focused on employment activities within the energy and banking sectors after they cease to politicians than stepping up to the mark to ensure proper regulation of the energy market and some degree of protection for the rest of us hard-pressed energy customers. Westminster is indifferent, incapable or simply unwilling to deal with this problem.

We need a Welsh national energy company, an Ynni Cymru to break the stranglehold of the Big Six energy cartel members on the energy market. Wales needs a ‘not for dividend profit’ company as with Glas Cymru works within our water industry. 
This would ensure that customers come before shareholders dividends (and the City) and that all the profits would be reinvested back into the energy sector in our country. This would ensure that Welsh families, households and small and larger businesses get a good deal on their energy and our country will end up with secure sustainable energy supplies.

MORE SMOKE AND MIRRORS

If you were looking for a classic bit of spin, then David Cameron’s promise to reduce or remove the so called ‘Green levies and subsidies’ of energy bills comes close to being it. This is classic misdirection, it makes DC look good, and distracts people’s attention away from the recently agreed guaranteed (and well above the market rate) energy price for the planned nuclear plants, something that should permanently skew the alleged ‘free market’ for energy.

It also effectively ignores the excessive profits that have been generated by the ‘big 6’ a situation that has been aggravated by a lack of effective regulation. One way of the other we are all paying the price for effectively having a pretty much unregulated energy market. This is one of the legacies of the last Labour government, who spent 13 years in office sitting back and watching this situation develop. 

Excessive profits and Tax evasion - surely not?

The ‘big 6’ energy cartel members, coincidentally ramp up the energy bills as our winter approaches, yet this is only part of the ‘corrupt’ legacy that surrounds the few remaining energy giants. The independent on Sunday (27.10.2013) and Corporate Watch (a not-for-profit research group) have revealed that more than 30 UK companies have cut their taxable profits by racking up interest on debt from their owners.

This minimises or in some cases entirely wipes out their UK corporation tax bill.  As most of the owners are based abroad, 20 per cent of the interest payments would usually have to be sent straight to HMRC, minimising the overall saving. As a result of swift footwork by the accountants, the money is lent via offshore stock exchanges this means that it qualifies for a regulatory loophole called the "quoted Eurobond exemption", no tax is withheld.

Scotia Gas, 50 per cent of which is owned by SSE, the energy giant which is about to put its prices up by more than 8 per cent, has avoided an estimated £72.5 million pounds in tax. UK Power Networks and Electricity North West, responsible for running large sections of Britain's electricity network, have both saved more than £30m. Scotia Gas is the second-largest gas distribution firm in the UK, serving 5.8 million people in Scotland and in the South and South-east of England.

Half of it is owned by SSE, the rest is owned by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. After they bought the networks from National Grid Plc in 2005, the new owners lent the majority of their money – about £530m at a 12.5 per cent interest rate – through the Channel Islands Stock Exchange rather than investing it in shares in the company.

Scotia has since paid interest of £537.3 million pounds on these loans. The £268.7 million pounds  of this that went to the Ontario pension funds cost the UK an estimated £72.5 million pounds in tax revenues. SSE Plc pays full UK corporation tax on the interest it receives as it is based in the UK but will have signed off the scheme.

More than 30,000 people contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau in the 13 days after SSE started the latest round of price hikes. It announced its increase on 10th October and was quickly followed by British Gas, Npower and Co-operative Energy. The massive rise in those contacting the charity represents a 55 per cent increase on the number of consumers normally seeking advice about the best power deals.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan also owns National Lottery operator Camelot and Bristol Airport, both revealed to be using the tax-avoidance scheme last week. It is among several foreign pension funds investing through this legal loophole. Two of Britain's 14 privately run electricity networks – Electricity North West and UK Power Networks – also use the loophole.

A portion of every Briton's electricity bill payment is given to their local power network to pay for the running and maintaining of cables in their area. UK Power Networks, which owns and maintains power cables and lines for eight million people in London, the South-east and East of England, has avoided an estimated £38 million pounds since 2010 from paying £164.4 million pounds via the Cayman Islands to firms controlled by Li Ka-shing, a Hong Kong tycoon and Asia's richest man.

The Cheung Kong group also owns Northumbrian Water, among several water firms that use the quoted Eurobond exemption. Electricity North West owns and operates the region's electricity distribution network, connecting 2.4 million properties to the National Grid. It has avoided an estimated £30 million pounds in tax after sending £107.2 million pounds to its owners, JP Morgan Infrastructure Investments Fund and Colonial First State, since they bought it in 2007.

The Eurobond exemption was introduced in 1984 to encourage third-party investment into UK companies. But analysis of listings on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and UK company accounts shows firms across the economy are using it to minimise tax bills by borrowing from their owners. More than £2 billion pounds a year has left the UK as interest payments to owners, avoiding an estimated £500 million pounds compared with if loan amounts had been invested in companies' shares.

Considering that other stock exchanges such as the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg also qualify for the exemption, the reality is that the total amount of tax being avoided is likely to be much higher. Incidentally HMRC, who are busy shedding jobs and cutting services to the bone, know that the exemption is being misused and even considered restricting it last year, but they backed down after lobbying from the financial industry. 

A HARSH CHOICE THIS WINTER: HEAT OR EAT

As the evenings draw in and days get colder the news that SSE have bumped up their domestic energy charges by 8.2% to cash in on the predictable spike in demand for winter heating will not come as no surprise. I have no doubt that the otherfive of the energy cartel members, known collectively as the ‘big 6’, will similarly raise their prices to rake in the cash at

A harsh choice: Heat or Eat?

our expense (British Gas were the first). Sadly this state of affairs is something that we have all become used to with an effectively unregulated energy market and little action beyond weasel words from successive Labour or Conservative Westminster governments. This winter, as never before, people will be put into a situation where they have to make a stark choice between literally heating their homes and putting food on the table. Rather than mumbled words of condemnation from a former New Labour energy minister (Ed Milibrand, as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 3^rd October 2008 until 11^th May 2010, showed no great desire to regulate the unscrupulous activities of the energy cartel) ) was for the energy cartels failure to pass on the benefits of wholesale energy price falls to its customers and their excessive profiteering, we need action. The Westminster elite (and I lose the term loosely) appears to be more focused on employment activities within the energy and banking sectors after they cease to politicians than stepping up to the mark to ensure proper regulation of the energy market and some degree of protection for the rest of us hard pressed energy customers. Westminster is either incapable or simply unwilling to deal with this problem, so perhaps it’s time for a home grown solution to the problem. We need a new Welsh national energy company, an Ynni Cymru to break the stranglehold of the Big Six energy cartel members on the energy market. Wales needs a ‘not for dividend profit’ company, as with Glas Cymru works within our water industry. This would firmly ensure that customers come before shareholders dividends and the City of London and that all the profits would be reinvested back into the energy sector in our country, ensuring that Welsh families, households and small and larger businesses get a good deal on their energy and our country will end up with secure sustainable energy supplies. 

THE BEDROOM TAX AND THE UN

Just to make Mr Cameron’s day, a leading United Nation’s officialis visiting the UK to examine the impact of the Government’s toxic ‘bedroomtax’ policy on the human rights of thousands of vulnerable people in the UK. However, the UN special rapporteur for housing, Raquel Rolnik, will be visiting every UK nation apart from Wales during her two-week tour of major cities.

One of the not unforeseen consequences of the Con Dem Government’s (Labour approved) Bedroom tax will be an increase in the number of people and families ending up homelessness. The early effects of the bedroom tax arealready beginning to show in official figures with a rise in the number of Landlord Possession claims and orders issued in the 3 months from April to June 2013.

This follows the introduction of the bedroom tax, statistics show that - compared to the same period last year – the number of claims had risen by 11% and the number of possession orders issued increased by 16%. The majority of these claims and orders was in the social housing sector which is the sector most affected by the bedroom tax. The statistics also show an increase of 6.5% in the number of warrants for eviction issued in the private rented sector, as families in Wales continue to struggle with the cost of living and other changes to the benefits system introduced in April.

As we all brace ourselves for the financial consequences of a potentially hard winter (increased heating and fuel bills) it will be less well off vulnerable poorer families who will be least able to face the prospect of larger and more expensive heating and energy bills. If their finances have already been squeezed by the costs of the bedroom tax then extra heating and energy costs could be the final straw resulting in many families potentially facing eviction by Christmas.

HOPING FOR A MILD WINTER

When I was a child I always hoped for long warm summers so I could enjoy them. Now that I am older and paying my own energy bills, I still hope for mild winters and warm long summers. Not I hasten to add so that I can enjoy them, but, because I like most the people are getting fiscally violated by the ‘big 6’ energy cartel members and I need to keep my energy bills down.

So news that households in England and Wales cut their energy use by a quarter over a six year period, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) should come as now surprise. The ONS report that average consumption of gas and electricity fell by 24.7% between 2005 and 2011 – this should be good for us the energy customers and good for the planet (less green house gases) - save for the fact that we (the energy customers) have faced steep increases in our bills over the period, and are perhaps trying to economise as a result.

Personally if I can make it to October before I put the heating on, or later, then that from my point of view is a bonus.  Ofgem (the energy regulator) says that energy bills have risen by 28% in the last three years. Some of the saving are down to increasing use of energy efficiency measures, with insulation, double-glazing and new boilers – ironically this is something that Plaid first advocated some thirty years ago – long before we started getting fleeced by the energy companies.

The ONS also said that another reason for the fall in consumption might be down to the introduction of energy ratings for properties and household appliances, something which may allow customers to make informed choices. Ofgem also noted the price rises, pointing out that the average duel fuel bill is now £1,420 a year.

ONS figures also showed that energy consumption is highest in England in the East Midlands, and lowest in the south-west of England, which has the mildest climate in the UK. The Department for Energy and Climate Change figures showed that Scotland still has the highest energy consumption of any part of the UK. They also noted that gas consumption in Scotland fell by 14% between 2005 and 2010, as shown by figures from March 2012.

One thing that could help is the smart meter, which show people exactly how much energy that they are using at any particular moment in time. While both the concept and the real thing have been around for a while, when it comes to installing them, the big six members appear to be dragging their feet. It is hoped that they will be installed in 53 million homes by 2020.

Household energy bills have become a major drain on finances, with people literally choosing between heating or eating. Fuel poverty is now alive and well here in the UK. Successive Westminster governments, both formerly New Labour and Con Dem have done little to curb the excessive profits raked in by the ‘big 6’ energy cartel members but have been happy to rake in extra taxes on profits.  

HEAT OR EAT AGAIN?

While we are enjoying the occasional (if fleeting) summer days, many of us are wondering about what our winter fuel bills will be like, especially if we have a bad winter. Some of us may face the stark choice of heating or eating this winter. Energy supply wise, we are now in the situation where we are now even more dependent upon imported gas from either unstable regions or dubious suppliers than ever before, and we the customers are facing increasingly expensive domestic energy bills.

News that research by Consumer Focus Wales now shows that a third of those asked described their energy bills as more of a worry than it was a few years ago will surprise few of us. The research shows that people on lower incomes, are unsurprisingly those most likely to be struggling to afford their energy bills. As has been previously noted the elderly and people in rural areas are also affected by increased energy bills. Almost 25% of people said energy bills needed only to go up by another £120 (a 10% increase) and they would also be struggling to afford the payments.

The stats make grim reading, the regulator Ofgem, has said that household energy bills have effectively doubled since 2002 and are now £1,250 per year. Back in 2008 the industry’s average dual fuel bill for both electricity and gas was £885. The ‘Big Six’ energy supplier’s cartel announced cuts of 5% in either their electricity or gas prices, but, this failed to reverse the years of price increases.

Consumer Focus Wales research shows that the proportion of people in Wales falling in to debt with suppliers is actually rising. Some 8% of energy consumers say they have fallen behind with energy bill payments in the last year – this figure rises to one in seven among young people and lower income households. Back in 2010 Consumer Focus Wales found that 5% of people were in arrears on their gas and electricity payments.

Back in February and March one by one of the 'Big Six' quietly announced a raise in profits at a time when many people were trying to avoid or to live with fuel poverty, something that was never going to go down well with hard presser domestic energy customers. Centrica (who own British Gas) revealed a group operating profit of £2.5 billion pounds, up four percent on 2010.

This unfortunately timed announcement came against a backdrop of growing fuel poverty, which affected (at the time) around 5.5 million households in the UK. The definition of Fuel poverty is when a household spends more than ten percent of their disposable income on gas and electricity. Fuel poverty is one of those things that the previous (and former) New Labour Government and the current Con Dem Government have done nothing about and no doubt quietly hope will go away or that the rest of us will continue to suffer it in relative silence.

Nothing has been done or will be done to curb or regulate excessive profits from the energy companies via windfall tax. The talk about customers benefiting from dual fuel bills, etc, is little more than a distraction. We have had a dual political failure, something that speaks volumes as to how far both the former New Labour Government and the Conservatives (and their Lib Dem coat holders) have gone to drop even the pretence of standing up for the interests of ordinary people in favour of courting the City.

It looks like we are going to get hit by another rise in domestic energy bills, kicked off this time by SSE, (Scottish Hydro, Swalec and Southern Electric) who have announced that they will increase its domestic gas and electricity prices by an average of 9% from October 15th. I'll bet the City and the shareholders will be happy, unlike the rest of us.

For growing numbers of ordinary people this winter it may come down to a choice of heat or eat, literally choosing between putting food on the table and heating their home. The only real winners here are HM Government (with extra tax) and the big six energy companies (with fat profits) all of us as customers are losing out hand over fist as the energy cartel continues to ramp up its profits.

TO HEAT OR TO EAT?

For some families this winter is may come down to a stark choice between literally heating or literally eating. No one, in the 21st century, should be forced to make a choice between putting food on the table for their family and heating their home, but that’s where many people now find themselves.

Not that long ago families could live on one salary; but today people are working all hours of the day to cope. This situation has arisen of a culture that rewards recklessness in the city of London, which had promoted a vast increase in credit, and an absurd house price boom – that is how we have arrived at the credit crunch which is bringing real economic hardship for many and enriching the few.

How did it come down to this? New Labour’s failure to help the people who will need help over the winter months and its failure to consider a windfall tax to curb excess profits from the utility companies speaks volumes as to how far New Labour has left behind the ordinary people in favour of courting the money men in the City. Sadly for growing numbers of ordinary families this winter it will come down to a choice of eat or heat as the interests of big profit for big business comes before the needs of ordinary families.








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The number is 0800 33 66 99 or check out the website: http://www.homeheathelpline.org.uk