By Fuel Poverty Action

MPs are today being asked to support an Early Day Motion, EDM 470: Proposed Energy Equity Commission Bill, which is proposed by Labour MP Clive Lewis and co-sponsored by MPs from five parties.  

A Private Members Bill presented by Clive Lewis, MP, will get this proposal considered in Parliament. It proposes to establish an Energy Equity Commission, which will be required to make recommendations on replacing the price cap system with a free Universal Basic Energy allowance.  

This energy allowance, which would meet basic needs for heating, cooking and lighting, is the core component of Energy For All – the hugely popular demand put forward by Fuel Poverty Action which on Wednesday will be delivered to Downing Street on a petition with over 600,000 signatures. Energy For All would be needs-based, not means-tested, and would be funded by windfall taxes, stopping fossil fuel subsidies, and higher prices for energy used beyond what a household needs.  Fuel Poverty Action is asking its supporters to lobby MPs to support the EDM.

Ruth London of Fuel Poverty Action said:

“This great development in Parliament was all being planned over the past few weeks but it is now more urgent than ever.  We have now learned that from April, even the Energy Price Guarantee, which was billed as the government’s two-year solution to the price crisis, will not last two years but will end in April.  The outlook is frankly terrifying. It is now all the more essential – and more possible – to win a totally new pricing framework –  a framework that is not based on making the poorest households, with the greatest needs, pay most.

“The government’s latest measures will leave millions in miserable poverty this winter, and many thousands will die from cold homes. The existing pricing system is fundamentally unfair. The less you use, the more you pay per unit. Even people who are turning their heating off entirely are clobbered with the heavy standing charge. 

“Energy For All will take our subsistence money back from the energy  giants who are sucking it out of our homes.  It will make sure that what people receive is based on what they need.  People heating mansions will pay more.  People who use no more than they need will pay far less.  And the government will finally be incentivised to insulate our homes.”

The Energy For All petition will be delivered to Downing Street at 2.30 pm on Wednesday, following Prime Ministers Questions Before that, there will be a rally at the George V statue in Old Palace Yard, Westminster.  Over 20 MPs are expected to attend from 1pm, where Clive Lewis MP and Lord Prem Sikka are among the speakers.

Campaigners will then proceed to Downing Street to deliver the petition to the Prime Minister at 2.30 p.m. The petition has drawn wide support, and speakers at the petition hand-in will include representatives from trade unions, NGOs, grassroots organisations and MPs.

The principle of a free allocation of energy, with higher tariffs for those who use far more than they need, has the support of 75% of the population according to a nationwide ICM survey in June

The idea is supported by a wide and growing range of organisations including the TUC, Disabled People Against Cuts, New Economics Foundation, Tax Justice UK, Single Mothers Self Defence, Parents for Future, Women Against Rape, Extinction Rebellion Scotland, Global Women’s Strike, Disabled Mothers’ Rights Campaign, 350.org, Lewisham Pensioners Forum, and Just Stop Oil. Representatives of many of these movements will be at the rally on 19 October.

Clive Lewis MP, lead sponsor of the Energy Equity Commission Bill said:

“In an age of climate and economic shocks, there’s an urgent need for a new social settlement that ensures that when it comes to life’s essentials the varying needs of all are met – from energy to housing, from connectivity to healthcare. The Government’s plan will benefit the richest the most, and let oil and gas companies off the hook for polluting and profiteering. Meanwhile, too many households will not have their energy needs met. I support the demand for ‘Energy for All’ because access to energy to meet the needs of a decent life is a basic right. That is also why I am proposing a Private Members’ Bill to introduce a free Universal Basic Energy allowance and a retrofit revolution.“ 

Paula Peters, Disabled People Against Cuts, called the ‘Energy For All’ proposal “a vital measure for the safety and wellbeing of disabled and older people in poverty.  There are disabled people who use dialysis machines, ventilators, need to charge power wheelchairs, need the fridge to keep certain medications refrigerated, who are rationing electricity because they cannot afford to charge their equipment to keep them going every day. Disabled people are in a terrifying  position, barely surviving or dying.”

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady supports the initiative. Sara Hall, Head of Movement, Tax Justice UK said: “The government must use the tax system to raise revenues from the wealthy and big companies, to invest in our economy, in the green transition and ensure everyone has access to energy to cook food, heat their home and keep the lights on.”

Image: Fuel Poverty Action