Scottish Power, one of the country’s largest energy providers has warned that yearly bills could jump by more than £900 this year, and has urged the government to join emergency discussions to address the “crisis” of growing electricity and gas prices.
ScottishPower predicted that the UK’s energy price cap will rise by around 47% to an average of £2,900 per family when it was next modified by regulator Ofgem in October.
We have already seen the cap raise by 54% to £1,971 per year, following high rises in wholesale gas and electricity costs that began last year in response to worries about European gas supply. It determines bills for more than 22 million non-fixed-price families and is now updated twice a year.
It is yet another concern for families currently dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, with inflation likely to hit 10% shortly, leaving households facing the second-largest economic squeeze since records began in 1964.
Food and clothing prices have already risen, while mortgages and rail fares are set to rise considerably, with four out of ten individuals already reporting that they are having to cut back on food to make ends meet.
Keith Anderson, CEO of Scottish Power spoke to The Times and said this:
‘It will hit incredibly hard and immediately. If nothing else happens by October, I think we will see a huge increase in pre-payment customers in effect self-disconnecting – not re-loading their pre-payment meter because they can’t afford to do it.
‘We will also see a massive increase in debt levels for direct debit customers, and a massive increase in people being pushed from direct debits to prepayment meters so that companies can recover the debt.
‘We are heading to a really horrible place where none of us want to be.’
He has also urged the Government to step in and take further action by slashing £1,000 off each household’s bill when this rise comes into action.
“We need to be realistic about the gravity of the situation – around 40% of UK households, potentially 10 million homes, could be in fuel poverty this winter,” Mr Anderson explained.
Mr Anderson, on the other hand, said that a £10 billion tariff reduction fund could be paid for simply adding £40 to all family energy bills over the next decade. He said that this would be the most effective way to keep the most vulnerable people out of fuel poverty.
Mr Anderson stated that such a fund would address the root cause of the cost-of-living issue in a manner that other initiatives, such as the recent 5p reduction in fuel duty or a hypothetical reduction in the frequency of MOT testing, would not.
Households won’t be the only ones hit hard though.
Many energy providers purchased the gas they will supply this winter at substantially higher costs than the present market.
According to Scottish Power, if Ofgem does not recognize this when setting the new cap, some enterprises may be forced to sell at a large loss, threatening them with additional hardship or failure, further destabilizing the market.
“We need to find a way to aid people who need it in time for winter but not exacerbating the challenges we’ve already seen in the business with supplier failures and very serious worries about billpayers incurring unsustainable debts,” Mr Anderson added.
What help is there currently for households?
The government is giving some assistance in the shape of a £150 council tax rebate this month, as well as a £200 loan in October, however this is expected to be repaid over the next 5 years.
Many have argued that this is far from enough, and will be insufficient to safeguard millions of people from having to choose between heating and eating.
There are also other schemes, which you can find the full list here of, including things like the Warm Home Discount Scheme, Winter Fuel Payment, Cold Weather Payments & other Grants listed here.
Government Donates more Generators to Ukraine
The Government has announced the donation of 287 more mobile generators to Ukraine.
The new generators, which can power around 8,000 extra houses, will be deployed in bigger structures such as hospitals and shelters in Eastern Ukraine.
This follows an earlier supply of 569 generators from five UK businesses, all of which delivered transportable units to Ukraine, pushing the total amount of Generators supplied by the UK to Ukraine to be 856.
The main reason for donating these generators is to provide a timely boost to Ukraine’s war efforts, safeguarding Ukrainian people’s access to energy, ensuring that essential services can continue to run and weakening Russia’s attempts to strike at Ukraine’s power supply.
The government acquired these from Speedy Hire in Merseyside, with part of the 287 being loaded in a Stoke-on-Trent depot.
The generators will be sent to a government hub in Poland. The generators will then be distributed around Ukraine by the Ukrainian government and the country’s electricity networks to where they are most required.
To keep Ukraine’s energy supplies topped off, the government has also made an exception to its foreign fossil fuel assistance policy.
The policy prohibits the United Kingdom from giving any new direct financial or promotional assistance to the fossil fuel energy industry abroad.
The exception will allow the UK to assist Ukraine with its energy and fuel requirements.
Speaking on the matter, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:
“Putin’s atrocities have continued to escalate, and so we are ramping up our support to the Ukrainian people in their time of need. Our donation of a further 287 generators will ensure more essential services in Ukraine can keep running.”
This all comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke this morning at a huge military parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Victory Day – an annual public holiday celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Today, the Russia-Ukraine war has entered its 75th day.
UK’s First Lithium Plant to boost EV’s
The UK’s first lithium factory, which will supply European electric vehicle and battery manufacturers, has received extra funding and is expected to open in 2024.
Green Lithium’s refinery in northern England will get feedstock – a raw material needed in processing from Trafigura, one of the world’s leading metals merchants.
There are presently no commercial lithium refineries in Europe, leaving the continent’s expanding electric car and sustainable energy storage sectors reliant on Chinese factories.
The new plant’s construction is planned to begin next year, with the first refined metals exiting the facility gates by 2024. The refinery is expected to achieve full capacity by 2026, when it will produce 50,000 tonnes of battery quality lithium per year. This will be delivered to Europe’s planned “gigafactories” for battery production. It will also create 1,000 jobs during construction and 200 afterward.
According to the corporation, it would employ low-carbon technologies in its processing.
This comes as Sales of electric vehicles across the UK continued to rise last month.
The latest report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders suggests battery electric vehicle registrations increased year on year by more than 40% in April.
The data shows that more than 12,800 BEVs joined UK streets last month.
How is Lithium important for EV’s?
Lithium is an important active ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles. It may be found as a solid mineral in rock and clay deposits, as well as dissolved in brine. It is popular among battery producers because, as the least dense metal, it retains a significant amount of energy for its weight.
Lithium-ion batteries are used to power electric vehicles and to store grid-scale energy. (They are also found in cellphones and laptop computers.) However, Europe has a dilemma. Almost every ounce of battery-grade lithium is now imported.
Are we moving to an Electric Car Future?
According to a Bridgestone survey, 67 percent of motorists plan to convert to an electric car in the near future, with the rising expense of gasoline and diesel at the pump was the primary motivator for making the move.
47 percent want to switch to an EV to save money on gas, while 56 percent are sold on the environmental benefits of EVs.
The research also underlined the cost-of-living problem, with 29 percent of motorists open to car sharing in the future to decrease outgoings and save money.