There has been a request to establish a ‘fuel tsar’ to the Northern Ireland Minister For Energy Arlene Foster to help sort out the growing problem of fuel poverty. After the results of a poll in the Belfast Telegraph in which 83% of readers backed a call for a fuel tsar, the SDLP deputy leader Mr. Alasdair McDowell raised the question. In order to ensure that they were getting fair prices, many readers felt that a regulator for the oil industry was needed.
Mr. McDonnell asked the Energy Minister when the government is planning to do something to tackle fuel poverty. Consumers could only benefit from having a fuel regulator in place as there would be an onus on suppliers to operate fair pricing. The Minister for Energy’s department is expected to respond this week.
The way that oil prices have been steadily increasing has caused concern in Northern Ireland with 70% of homes using oil as their main source of fuel. 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. Although there are many who think that by having a fuel regulator there will be better protection for consumers.
But those in the industry already feel that pricing is fair with the spokesman for the Northern Ireland Oil Federation stating that prices are ‘open and transparent’. He blamed the increase in prices last month on the fact that there was an expected 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. He said that because of this there was an increase in the price of kerosene and unfortunately this increase had a knock on effect in the increased price of retail oil.
Some people spend a lot of money heating their homes in the winter. Gas and electricity are very expensive today, with no signs of prices coming down. Savvy people are changing over to oil as a home fuel though. After the changeover they have to make sure that the storage tanks are always full of cheapest heating oil to ensure they never run out.
Tags: cheap heating oil, cheapest heating oil, fule poverty, heating oil, home heating