The decision of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CRU) to greenlight electricity price rises for consumers \u2013 without doing anything to reign in gouging by energy companies \u2013 will heap further pressure on struggling families, according to Social Democrats energy spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an interview on Morning Ireland this morning, a representative from the CRU advised consumers to shop around or stop putting on their washing at 5pm, if they wanted to save money on their energy bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis patronising and dismissive attitude will have infuriated many consumers, who have seen huge spikes in their energy costs \u2013 with bills nearly doubling in a few short years. No amount of washing clothes at 2am will bridge that gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile investment in our grid is desperately needed, why is it that the lion\u2019s share of this burden is being foisted on consumers, many of whom are already struggling to keep their heads above water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already have nearly 300,000 households who are in arrears on their electricity bills. These are not just figures or statistics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are hundreds of thousands of people who are living in cold homes, in freezing conditions, who can\u2019t afford to turn the heat on. And, the only response from the State, to this crisis, is to introduce further price hikes. It is contemptible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn October, the Taoiseach accepted that energy companies were engaged in gouging. Incredibly, having made that admission, he then failed to do anything about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland\u2019s energy costs are already among the most expensive in the EU \u2013 we are a complete outlier. But, there is a complete lack of willingness by government to do anything about it. Instead, they are content to sit back while prices climb even further.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of agreeing plans to hike prices even further, and heap further pressure on struggling families, the CRU should first investigate gouging by energy companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurther, as a matter of urgency, the government should introduce a targeted \u20ac400 energy credit to those households who are already struggling to pay soaring energy costs. This is something the Social Democrats have repeatedly called for and something the government has repeatedly ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The decision of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CRU) to greenlight electricity price rises for consumers \u2013 without doing anything to reign in gouging by energy companies \u2013 will heap further pressure on struggling families, according to Social Democrats energy spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore said: \u201cIn an interview on Morning Ireland this morning, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[539,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n