Energy prices soar: Nationalise the energy companies

With more hikes in fuel prices, this winter will see even more people deciding whether “to heat or eat”.

Already, almost 44% of households in Northern Ireland live in fuel poverty and recent price increases will see a further 50,000 homes joining them. Since May, the price of gas has risen by an alarming 40% and Power NI will have upped its prices by 20% by October this year (on top of another predicted increase of 12.5% from the beginning of next year). In addition to this, the Coal Advisory Service has stated that the price of coal could be raised by 10%. The cost of fuel will have effectively doubled since 2005.

 

The various energy companies have claimed that these increased tariffs are necessary due to soaring wholesale energy prices. However, last year, Peter Dixon (Chief Executive of Phoenix Gas) was paid a whopping salary of £700,000, placing him as one of the richest individuals in Northern Ireland. In order to conserve its profits, NIE Energy has passed the burden of increased wholesale fuel prices to the consumer. Also, NIE has made a controversial proposal to use customers to pay for its £40 million pension deficit.

The slight restraints on price increases put in place by the Utilities Regulator (NIAUR) are not enough. Ordinary people are still receiving huge energy bills they cannot pay. It is clear that the energy companies need to be put back into public ownership and run democratically for the benefit of working people instead of existing as nothing more than profit driven, private enterprises. As winter approaches we need to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in society not the safety of profits for energy company executives.

 

 

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Unite to fight school closures

Next Article

US: Over 700 arrested on “Occupy Wall Street” march

Related Posts

Abolish “Steps to Work” – modern day slave labour

Youth Fight for Jobs is demanding the immediate abolition of Steps to Work, the scheme introduced by the Assembly which forces the unemployed to work for free. Steps to Work can be compared to modern-day slave labour. If people refuse to participate, they face getting their dole cut off – not much of a choice there! Employers don’t have to pay a single penny in wages to those who are put to work.

Joe Higgin MEP Reacts to the Brutal Budget

What a damning indictment of the Budget that alcohol was the only stimulus featuring significantly in Finance Minister Lenihan’s economic landscape.

Perhaps the Minister believes that the low paid, the poor and the unemployed, whose living standards he has brutally lacerated, will go and drown their anger and economic pain in slightly lower priced booze instead of fighting back and organising to kick his government out of office.

‘The worst is over’, proclaimed the Minister as he delivered Budget 2010. Then he went on to inflict the most savage cuts ever on the living standards of low to middle income public sector workers and the unemployed while hitting all working people with tax on fuel and cuts in child benefit.

Obituary – Peter Hadden 1950 – 2010

Peter Hadden died peacefully at his home in Belfast on 5 May 2010 and was cremated at Roselawn Cemetery on 10 May. Peter, who died of cancer which he had fought every inch of the way over the previous three years, was 60 years of age.

This obituary will not do justice to Peter Hadden, no obituary could. It is based on the contributions by the following, friends and comrades of Peter, at the funeral itself and at the celebration of his life afterwards – Philip Stott (Scotland), Stephen Boyd, Lucy Simpson, Billy Lynn, Per-Åke Westerlund (Sweden), John Maguire (Visteon), Daniel Waldron, Carmel Gates, Gary Mulcahy, Peter Taaffe, Kevin McLoughlin, Ciaran Mulholland and Joe Higgins MEP.