GREENPEACE volunteers hit the streets of Worcester to invite Pump Street shoppers to write down how the cost-of-living crisis has affected them
Volunteers collected a huge number of messages and calculated people’s bills have increased by an average of 51 per cent. Around 60 per cent of people said their bills were unaffordable, according to volunteers.
On April 1 energy bills went up by an average of £700, pushing 2.5million UK households into fuel poverty.
In October bills will rise again, potentially reaching up to an estimated £2,600 per year.
This could put one in three households in fuel poverty, according to National Energy Action.
Although the Government has recently declared a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, this will only provide temporary relief and does nothing to address the causes of the climate or cost of living crises say Greenpeace.
Campaigners have called for a tax rate of 70 per cent, which could bring in an extra £13.4billion per year and £7.9billion of this tax should go towards the six million households experiencing fuel poverty.
This would leave just over £5billion to invest in the nationwide roll out of heat pumps, insulation and other energy efficiency measures, as well as increasing investment in renewable energy infrastructure, according to Greenpeace.
Volunteer John Allen said: “I was shocked to hear peoples’ stories of having to choose between heating and eating. How many more local people are worrying about being pushed into fuel poverty when bills rise again in the autumn?
“Greenpeace Worcestershire volunteers have called on the Chancellor to deliver an Emergency Energy Package that stops fuelling rising energy bills and ask our local MP, Robin Walker to keep the pressure on the Government until they do the right thing.’
“If our Government has failed to get a grip on the climate and cost of living crises, we’ll keep facing these problems for years to come.
“Oil and gas giants, meanwhile, will pump out planet-trashing emissions and enjoy sky high profits. Join us in calling on the Chancellor to make them pay up,” he added.
