Energy price rises hit heating oil users

hardest as costs soar by 74 per cent

It means hundreds of thousands of families face a challenging winter as heating oil has to be bought in bulk. The price of a standard 1,000-litre oil delivery is now more than £400 more than in February.

A single litre of heating oil was priced at approximately 61p before the start of the conflict in the Middle East.

As of the last day of September, that figure stood at £1.07, having previously peaked at around £1.38 in early March.

The price of liquified petroleum gas has also been highly volatile.

Ministers recently pledged to “keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills” after Ofgem announced the energy price cap – which protects those who are on the gas grid from excessive price rises – would increase by four per cent in October.

The cap is forecast to rise by another 16 per cent in January.

However, rural families who are off the gas grid, and use heating oil or LPG to heat their homes, are not covered by the price cap, face significantly higher increases in their energy costs.

Action with Communities in Rural England is calling on the government not to forget rural households when considering further cost-of-living support.

Corinne Pluchino, Chief Executive of ACRE, said: “Gas customers across the country will have heard this week’s news about further increases to the energy price cap and be rightly concerned about how this will hit their family budgets.

“However, the 1.5 million households that use heating oil, most of which are in rural areas, are facing much larger price rises of nearly 75 per cent as we approach the winter.

“This price is moving on a daily basis, making it impossible for families to predict where it may go next.

“At a time when budgets are already stretched, these unsustainable price rises are causing huge worry and anxiety for many rural families, which is why we are calling on the government to remove VAT on heating oil and LPG for six months, as neither are covered by the energy price cap.”

“The temporary removal of VAT on electricity bills shows the government is committed to helping with the cost-of-living, but without specific targeted support for heating oil and LPG users, thousands of rural people risk becoming the forgotten victims of the energy crisis.”

Action with Communities in Rural England has written to the Treasury ahead of the Budget to call for dedicated heating oil and LPG support to be included in the Chancellor’s announcement on Wednesday 28 October.

One of the proposals is to introduce a VAT holiday for both heating oil and LPG for six months this winter – a move that would save families around £50 per 1,000 litres of oil and mirror the support already in place to lower electricity bills.

More than 900,000 homes across England rely on heating oil to keep their homes warm, while a further 150,000 use LPG, with most of these properties located in the country’s rural towns and villages.

Fuel poverty is higher in off-grid households compared to those on the grid and the rural fuel poverty gap is double that in towns and cities.

In the immediate aftermath of the US-led strikes on Iran, the government did announce some support for heating oil customers through its Crisis and Resilience Fund.

However, this support was targeted exclusively at the most vulnerable heating oil users, meaning most households were unable to receive even a nominal contribution towards their energy bills.

ACRE is the only national charity speaking up for and acting on behalf of all rural communities, with its work being supported on-the-ground by a network of 37 county-based rural charities.

More information about the work of ACRE and the ACRE Network can be found online at www.acre.org.uk.

“Without specific targeted support for heating oil and LPG users, thousands of rural people risk becoming the forgotten victims of the energy crisis.”

Corinne Pluchino,
Chief Executive, ACRE