We are all aware of the rising cost of living and especially the soaring cost of heating our homes. This becomes more important to us all living in Scotland and the coming winter months where the vast majority of us will rely on gas to keep us warm. Many people are still asking “why are energy bills rising?” The answer is that in February of 2022 the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) stated that they were increasing the cap on the prices that the energy companies can charge the consumers by 54%. A cap is a form of regulation that limits the prices that utility providers can charge their customers. The cap allows oil and gas companies to ‘pass on all reasonable costs to customers, this includes the cost of buying gas’. With the increase in global prices it was inevitable that prices were going to rise but, the size of the increase is eye watering.

There is no easy fix, no silver bullet because things have gone too far already. But there are things that we can do to help with the rising costs of energy. And fortunately Grampian Housing Association (GHA) has an energy adviser, David Barr, that can help with some free advice that may help keep your fuel costs down. We are fortunate to have a landlord that does care about its tenants. Many of us will have had work done over the last few years to help keep our homes warmer. Projects have included additional loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and new uPVC windows and doors and some of us have been fortunate to have had Photovoltaics (PV) solar panels installed on our roofs as well as storage batteries in some cases.

A staggering fact is that 87% of households in the UK rely on gas to heat their homes. This makes the UK susceptible and vulnerable to the rise in global gas prices. Long gone are the days that the UK was almost self-sufficient for domestic energy supplies. Where we used to be an exporter, we are now a net importer of fuel including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Electricity. We import Crude Oil and Natural Gas liquids from Norway, mostly, followed by the USA. After decades of failings by successive governments to invest in insulating existing properties and the failure to heavily invest in renewable energy initiatives has left us with some of the worse insulated properties in Europe. When facts such as these are added to how the war in Ukraine has disrupted fuel supplies to our European neighbours because of embargos placed on Russia and its money making machine it should not come as a surprise that prices were going to rise for us the consumer.

The overreliance on fossil fuels had to and must end at some point because they are a finite resource. But the financial pain and hardship that the current state of affairs has put on society will definitely be felt by those that can least afford it. With some very difficult choices to make this winter between eating and heating many health experts are predicting an increase in some kinds of health conditions this winter to include respiratory infections, bronchitis, stress to the cardiovascular system, asthma symptoms becoming worse or developing and the ever present threat to people’s mental health.