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| SEPTEMBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK
Energy retail
Analysis
Calls build for a social tariff
The introduction of a social tariff to support vulnerable customers
has been backed by many high-profile figures across the sector but
how would it work in practice? Adam John reports.
A
ccording to Derek Lickorish, former
chairman of the government's Fuel
Poverty Advisory Group and currently
non-executive chairman of Utilita: "The
situation is absolutely dire … We have to do
something very profound, we have to do it
quickly, because all the time we are sitting
here the clock is ticking and the price of gas
keeps on increasing,"
He is far from alone in his thinking, with
fuel poverty charities predicting that more
than eight million households will meet the
definition of fuel poor a…er October's price
cap increase, with more pain to follow for
consumers in January next year.
The crisis is so bad that even the govern-
ment's £11.7 billion Energy Bills Support
Scheme, which will see most households
given a £400 discount off their bills this
winter, will do little to stem the tide of soar-
ing prices. And as Utility Week went to press
there had been no fresh announcements
from government.
"Current financial support will be inad-
equate because much of that money will
be spent before winter kicks in. We are fac-
ing the bleakest of winters," says National
Energy Action (NEA) chief executive Adam
Scorer.
One solution to get rapid support to those
that need it most could be a social energy
tariff, priced below the cap. From retail
chief executives such as Keith Anderson of
Scottish Power and Michael Lewis of Eon
UK, to MPs on both government and oppo-
sition benches, calls for such a tariff are
becoming louder.
Furthermore, in its report on the energy
retail market, the Business, Energy and
