Northern Ireland Energy Minister Asked To Tackle Fuel Poverty In The Province
Ms. Arlene Foster the Energy Minister in Northern Ireland has been asked to tackle the fuel poverty issue by establishing a ‘fuel tsar’. The calls were made by Mr. Alasdair McDowell the SDLP deputy leader after a poll showed that 83 percent of Belfast Telegraph readers would be in favour of it. Readers wanted to see someone in charge of regulating the oil industry so that consumers were getting fair prices.
Mr. McDonnell asked the Energy Minister when the government is planning to do something to tackle fuel poverty. By establishing a regulatory body for the fuel industry, Mr. McDonnell feels that consumers will be benefiting from the fact that suppliers would have no choice but to operate a fair pricing policy. There is a response expected this week from Ms. Foster’s department.
70 percent of homes in Northern Ireland use oil as their main source of fuel so the continuously rising prices are causing some concern with residents. During the last month prices of oil rose by £25 per 900 litres and with the really bad weather that hit recently demand has increased. But many feel that the consumer will be better protected by having a regulator for the industry.
However, the spokesman for the Northern Ireland Oil Federation Mr. David Blevings defended the industry by saying that it is already ‘open and transparent’. He stated that the reason for the recent increase in oil prices was down to the expectation of a recovery in the global economy. Add to that the fact that demand for oil increased with the cold weather that was widespread across the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately this all leads to an increase in the price of kerosene which in turn means an increase in the price of retail oil which must then be passed on to the consumer.
Getting the home heated up during winter can be very expensive. Electricity and gas prices are very high and show no signs of coming down any time soon. Many individuals are now changing over to cheaper home heating oil though. After the changeover they have to make sure that the storage tanks are always full of cheapest heating oil to make sure they don’t run dry in the cold weather.
