Bishops tell government to heed fuel poverty figures

Bishops have called on government to take the numbers experiencing fuel poverty into account when setting policy on increasing renewable energy generation.

The direct cost to the UK of meeting the EU's current 15 per cent target will be at least £5 billion per annum by 2020, in addition to indirect costs in the form of higher energy prices.

The call comes in the submission of the Church of England's House of Bishops' Europe Panel to the House of Lords' Select Committee on Economic Affairs inquiry into 'The Economics of Renewable Energy'. The Panel acts as a point of reference for matters affecting the Church of England's relations with Europe and the European Union institutions.

Government policy on renewable energy and the rate at which it increases is shaped by the EU target that 15 per cent of energy consumed in the UK should come from renewable sources by 2020.

The bishops note that Malcolm Wicks, Minister of State for Energy at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, has produced initial assessments suggesting that the direct cost to the UK of meeting a 15 per cent target will be at least £5 billion per annum by 2020, in addition to indirect costs in the form of higher energy prices.

The bishops' submission recognises that higher energy prices are likely to be an incentive to reduced levels of consumption and contribute to meeting UK targets but voice concern that higher prices could increase fuel poverty.

"We are concerned at the effect this will have on the numbers experiencing fuel poverty and on the levels of hardship experienced by those already in fuel poverty," the submission says.

"We recommend that the inquiry and future policy following on from it should both calculate and explicitly take into account the effect of meeting our renewables target on the numbers experiencing fuel poverty and the economic impact on those already experiencing fuel poverty."