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Activists occupy consultancy firm over renewal of Drax subsidies

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-occupy-consultancy-firm-over-renewal-drax-subsidies

Emissions from the Drax plant near Selby on a winter’s day

ACIVISTS occupied the London offices of a lobbyist for Drax power plant today, protesting against the government’s decision to bankroll Britain’s top carbon emitter.

Labour announced yesterday that it will provide subsidies to the wood-burning power plant for at least four more years.

The plant has received billions from taxpayers because it is classed as a source of renewable energy, a claim long disputed by campaigners as it emits the largest amount of carbon in Britain.

Drax has also been fined £25 million by Ofgem for misreporting where its wood is sourced from after a BBC investigation found that it had used wood from environmentally important forests in Canada.

This morning, 20 activists from Axe Drax occupied the offices of 5654 & Company, a corporate affairs consultancy they say lobbies for the power station, with staff forced to leave for the day as a result, according to the campaign group.

Rosie, who only shared her first name, from Axe Drax said: “The decision to back Drax is a disaster for the climate and our energy bills.

“Funding the biggest carbon emitter in the UK in the name of green energy is insane.

“It is time for Labour to dump Drax and their lobbyists, not double down support.

“We are sick of their unaccountable power, while millions of us have our bills hiked.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-occupy-consultancy-firm-over-renewal-drax-subsidies

Continue ReadingActivists occupy consultancy firm over renewal of Drax subsidies

Protesters demand government end ‘green’ subsidies for Britain’s largest carbon emitter

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protesters-demand-government-end-green-subsidies-britains-largest-carbon-emitter

Greenpeace, Axe Drax, Friends of the Earth and Stop Burning Trees Coalition protest outside DESNZ to call for an end to Drax subsidies and for genuine clean power Photo: © Chris J Ratcliffe / Greenpeace

PROTESTERS descended on Westminster today to demand that the government stop using taxpayers’ money to bankroll the destruction of forests.

More than 100 environmental activists from groups including Axe Drax, Fossil Free London and Greenpeace gathered outside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, calling for an end to the vast subsidies granted to the Drax biomass power plant.

The North Yorkshire plant is Britain’s largest carbon emitter, yet receives almost £1.5 million a day for burning biomass wood chips, a fuel source that Drax claims is “carbon neutral.”

As part of the action, a choir celebrated Christmas trees in song and handed out origami trees to civil servants entering the building.

Four people dressed as tree-like creatures representing the millions of trees burned by Drax presented the department with a Greenpeace petition, bearing the signatures of over 120,000 people, calling for an end to the subsidies.

The power plant burned six million tonnes of wood pellets last year, equivalent to about half a billion Christmas trees.

In February, a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that Drax had continued to burn wood from rare primary forests in Canada, after the programme first made the discovery two years ago.

The plant was then forced to pay £25 million to Ofgem for failing to provide adequate data on the type of wood it sources.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protesters-demand-government-end-green-subsidies-britains-largest-carbon-emitter

Continue ReadingProtesters demand government end ‘green’ subsidies for Britain’s largest carbon emitter

Average annual energy bill to rise by 10% to £1,717 in Great Britain from October

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/23/average-annual-energy-bill-rise-great-britain-october-ofgem

Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on household

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Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.

Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.

It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.

Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.

Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.

It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.

…

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Continue ReadingAverage annual energy bill to rise by 10% to £1,717 in Great Britain from October

Energy giants reap £420bn profits as beleaguered customers faced further price hikes

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/energy-giants-reap-ps420bn-profits-beleaguered-customers-faced-further-price-hikes

An online energy bill, February 3, 2022

AS BELEAGUERED customers faced further price hikes today, the scale of Britain’s energy rip-off was revealed.

The energy firms have collectively reaped profits of £420 billion since 2020, according to research by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

For comparison, the annual budget of the Department of Health & Social Care, which includes the NHS, was £181.7bn in 2022-3.

Though the Ofgem-imposed price cap, limiting what customers pay for each unit of gas and electricity that we use, fell today to £1,690 a year for a typical household, the average standing charge rose from £303 a year to £334.

These charges, which have to be paid even if no gas or electricity is used, have risen by 147 per cent since the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Those cashing in on the profits dividend include not only the energy providers but also the firms that own the wires and pipes through which electricity and gas supplies travel, all publicly owned prior to privatisation in 1990.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/energy-giants-reap-ps420bn-profits-beleaguered-customers-faced-further-price-hikes

Continue ReadingEnergy giants reap £420bn profits as beleaguered customers faced further price hikes

Energy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The leading trade union body has slammed government policy for benefiting corporate profiteering at the expense of household bills, leading renewed calls to nationalise the energy sector after the 5% energy price cap rise.

Households will be ‘hammered even harder’ in 2024 the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said, as the Ofgem price cap rise came into effect from January 1, which will see households across the country face a 5% increase in their energy bill.

It has led to further warnings from charities about struggling households facing another cold start to the year and renewed calls for government support to help households struggling with their energy bills.

“No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak.

“But 13 years of wage stagnation and cuts to social security have left millions badly exposed to sky-high bills this winter.”

With energy bills already 50% higher than two years ago, Nowak said the price cap rise will only “hammer households even harder in the coming year”.

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Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 leading UK charities, warned of the effects the government’s inaction at tackling the energy crisis will have across services.  

“Failure to avert this cold homes crisis will lead to pressure on the NHS, a mental health catastrophe and additional winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes,” said Fiona Waters, Warm This Winter spokesperson.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Continue ReadingEnergy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns