Household Costs

Compared to this time last year, on average, oil customers are paying £532[a] more; Phoenix’s customers have to find another £130[b], and NIE’s a further £69[c]. 

It’s clear that we’re witnessing a consumer crunch with the average family paying up to £40 extra per week for “must-haves” like food, heat, light, petrol and mortgage.  Household bills are rising way above any increase in household incomes.  And there could be more to come.  

There’s no one easy solution to this problem.  Immediate action must be taken to help consumers this winter alongside the development of long-term strategies to tackle the consumer impact of the soaring cost of energy on three fronts: energy costs, household income and energy efficiency. 

The consumer impact is stark – particularly in Northern Ireland where many are being plunged into financial hardship.  Hard choices will get more desperate as these sunny days turn colder.  The plight of consumers is clear:

Extraordinary times need extraordinary measures.  We believe that the sheer scale of these increases should trigger a special one-off financial payment for vulnerable households this winter.  We need to identify who genuinely needs this help and come up with new ideas about where this money will come from.

The Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie, has recently taken decisive action to help fuel-poor and low-income households by establishing a Taskforce to report back on short and long term steps to meet the needs of vulnerable consumers in the face of rising energy prices.  We must build on this positive development and come up with innovative solutions like using VAT to provide funds for vulnerable households.

For the longer term, every option must be explored to develop and deliver special lower energy tariffs for vulnerable people who simply cannot afford to pay their energy bills and who need help to keep warm and well.

In addition, the Winter Fuel Payment must be overhauled as it doesn’t get to everyone who needs it.  It’s not enough and it wouldn’t even pay for half a tank of oil at today’s prices.  It has been £200 since 2003 – if it was keeping up with oil prices it would be nearly £700[j] this year.

Every penny counts.  We need to make sure that everyone is getting what they are entitled to, and is being as energy efficient as is healthily possible. 

There is good work underway to deliver an open, competitive and stable energy market, but consumers here still can’t shop around and switch energy suppliers like consumers in the rest of the UK.

The Consumer Council is committed to working with our politicians to tackle this issue and deliver solutions to help people coping with high energy prices.  The talking has started: swift action must follow.


[a]Based on 2 fills per year of a 900 litre tank based on a Consumer Council snapshot survey taken on 11 May 2007 and 22 May 2008

[b]Based on a 28% increase in Phoenix Supply Limited’s tariff effective from 01 May 2008 based on average customer usage.

[c]£69 is based on 3.9% increase effective from 1 November 2007 and 14% increase announced 28 May 2008 effective 01 July 2008.

[d]Office for National Statistics Family Spending Survey, 2007 Edition

[e]Home Energy Conservation Report,  2007

[f]This figure is based on households in the UK, of which 4.5 million are in fuel poverty minus the 705,000 households in NI, of which 225,000 are in fuel poverty.  GB figures from the National Energy Authority and the NI figures are from the Home Energy Conservation Authority Report, 2007.

[g]Office for National Statistics Family Spending Survey, 2007 Edition

[h]Family Resources Survey, 2005-2006

[i]Managing Money, How does Northern Ireland add up?, The Consumer Council, 2007

[j]Based on percentage increase in oil taken from a snapshot survey by the Consumer Council in May 2003 and May 2008

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