Government urged to ensure the fuel poor and other vulnerable customers are protected during the Energy Price Crisis

As decisions are taken on the best way to alleviate rising energy prices, the Prime Minister and Chancellor have this week been urged to leave in place – or expand - the Energy Company Obligation scheme.

The letter, written by AgilityEco, follows a report published in October that revealed that current funding to relieve fuel poverty will help only a fraction of the 3.2 million homes that were in fuel poverty in 2019.

Gearoid Lane, CEO of AgilityEco, said:

“Cutting the ECO programme would severely impact vulnerable households, who are the worst affected by the current energy crisis. It would also jeopardise the Government’s legally binding target to end fuel poverty by 2030.

“ECO is the largest retrofit scheme available to fund energy saving improvements in low income homes, yet adds less than 2% to energy bills. The heating and insulation measures that ECO provides are the only long-term, sustainable solution to energy price rises.”

Whilst recent weeks have seen some commentators calling for “green levies” to be suspended, removed or moved into general taxation, ECO is vital to preserve given that it tackles the very problem at hand - the impact of price rises on the most vulnerable.

The full letter, along with key facts on the Energy Company Obligation, can be found here.   

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