Energy price rise brings winter misery

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, has today condemned energy company SSE for imposing a massive 9% price hike, warning that doing so just before winter will plunge thousands of customers into fuel poverty.

Mike Jeram, UNISON Head of Business and Environment, said: “SSE are really letting their customers down by enforcing a price hike – three times the rate of inflation – just before winter sets in.

“Public service workers – many of whom have not had pay increases for nearly three years – may find that it is not just their pay that is frozen when they are struggling to heat their homes as a result of these outrageous increases.

“It is not just SSE – many energy companies are putting their prices up, putting the health and wellbeing of the low paid, pensioners and the vulnerable at risk. The Government needs to take urgent action to tackle fuel poverty, and UNISON is calling for an emergency programme of energy efficiency measures designed to cut bills, create jobs and help pull families out of the grip of fuel poverty.”