The Green Party has called for the big five energy suppliers to be brought into public ownership and for the price of energy to be returned to where it was in October last year to protect households from accelerating energy costs. The current energy price cap, which was set in April, currently sits at £1,971. Experts at Cornwall Insight predict a jump to £3,582 in October, which the price cap will next be reviewed - followed by an even more concerning rise to £4,266 in January.
More than half of households in the UK, or 15 million people, will have been pushed into fuel poverty by January 2023, according to research published this month. The Labour Party has this week demanded a freeze in the energy price cap, with Keir Starmer saying he would keep the cap at its current level until the end of March 2023.
Green Party co-leader and Bristol West MP candidate Carla Denyer said: “We are seeing nationwide anxiety about the prospect of unpayable energy bills this winter.
“Other parties have only offered to fix energy prices at current levels, but we know these are already unaffordable. We would return energy prices to an affordable level.
“This experiment with an energy supply market has failed. Only the government can intervene at the scale required to avoid a catastrophe this winter.”
The party has called for the Big Five energy supply companies to be taken into public ownership, as proposed by the TUC, and restore the energy price cap to the level of last October. The Greens say this would reduce the cost to the average household by more than £2,000.
Denyer - who is also the Clifton Down councillor - said: “Everyone needs to use energy to survive, for basic needs like cooking and keeping warm. However, tackling the climate crisis requires that we improve our energy efficiency in this country.
“That’s why our differential tariff will cover basic energy needs but will include progressively rising prices for those who use more energy, with exceptions for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions, alongside support for those companies offering 100% renewable electricity, which is the cheapest form of electricity.
“Alongside an ambitious national home insulation scheme, this will help bring down energy use across the country.”
The Greens are renewing their call for home insulation to become the government’s top priority. They said reducing energy demand by increasing energy efficiency is the most important step the government can take to ensure the UK’s long-term energy security.
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Denyer said: “Fixing the price of energy will put huge stress on energy supply companies, which is why we propose bringing the largest into public ownership and offering subsidies to smaller suppliers, especially the renewable energy specialists who have done so much to innovate in recent years.
“By bringing the big five energy retail companies into public ownership, setting the price of energy at an affordable rate and absorbing the global price rises, the government could make sure everybody can afford to get through this cost of living crisis.
“At the same time, it will mean this public service will be able to be run in the public interest, instead of in the interest of profit making.”
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