Scotland’s campaign for affordable energy remains as urgent as ever, says the DLS website editor
Were we supposed to applaud and cheer when some energy suppliers said that they would no longer forcibly install prepayment meters in the homes of people who are over 85 - or who are suffering from a terminal disease?
Aye, right.
To be fair to these empathetic and caring organisations, they are also gracious enough to say that people who are suffering from health conditions such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and sickle cell disease, which would be worsened by your home being cold, will also be ‘exempt’.
Oh, hang on … wait a minute … there’s the small print. The exemption for those aged over 85 only applies ‘if they do not have anyone to support them in the house’.
The energy suppliers are making these ‘generous’ changes for one reason only – because people have been speaking out and organising against their previous cruel practices.
Power To The People is a grassroots, non-partisan campaign which has mobilised thousands of people across Scottish towns and cities. It brings together community members, councillors, former MSPs, climate activists, trade unionists, academics and researchers.
One of the campaign’s demands is the simple one to scrap prepayment meters altogether: they are unfair and discriminatory. Whether you are 85, 84, or any age at all, they always mean that your fuel is more expensive than with standard credit meters – just another way that paying for basic needs is more expensive for the people who this system makes ‘poor’.
Published May 2023