Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fossil fuel projects just adding to climate crisis
ANOTHER week, another announcement our fuel bills are going up – again.
But while customers across Northern Ireland have seen the cost of heating and electricity rise by hundreds of percent in recent months, the Government has only now decided to hit supplier profits.
And while we’re all tied in to supporting fossil fuels through strategic policy, leaders aren’t taking the steps needed to free us from their shackles.
This week a Shell executive quit rather publicly over the firm’s failure to take real action on the climate crisis.
Meanwhile, the UK Government, Stormont and local authorities are still considering scores of projects that continue the grip fossil fuel firms have on how we heat and light our homes.
Two such projects in the pipeline in Northern Ireland include an application for seven gas caverns under Larne Lough and a new oil distribution terminal at Cloghan Point.
Both Co Antrim projects have attracted major opposition because of their impact on locals and the environment. But they’re still on the table.
And I’m not sure if you know this, but despite NI passing its first Climate Bill, it included no ban on fossil fuel projects.
The Guardian reported last week how the UK has approved several fossil fuel projects since the country hosted COP26 in Glasgow.
That’s despite pledges to cut carbon emissions and the International Energy Agency view that no new fossil fuel projects should go ahead if net zero global targets are to be reached by 2050.
And it seems the war on Ukraine and the resulting move away from using Russian gas is being used as an excuse.
I know the onslaught has seen wholesale energy costs rise exponentially worldwide. But here in Northern
Ireland, and in the UK and Ireland, customers appear to be the only ones taking the hit.
The Northern Ireland Utility Regulator said those price rises are responsible for “over half of consumers’ bills”.
They added: “The single most important development that will deliver lower electricity and gas bills for Northern Ireland consumers is a fall in these wholesale energy costs.” Meanwhile, the three companies they ‘price cap’ – Power NI, SSE and Firmus – haven’t had their cap on profits lowered.
Power NI has a profit cap of 2.2% while SSE and Firmus profits were capped at 2% when a deal was struck almost five years ago. So my question is, why in these unusual times have those price controls not been revisited?
Two per cent may not seem like a lot and I’m told “the impact of reducing these profits below the current level would have an extremely small impact on consumer prices”.
I’m sure any reduction in customer bills would be welcomed by families using their hob to heat their home.
Or those choosing between heating and eating.
It’s great the Department for Communities provided a £200 one-off payment to help around 280,000 people with their energy bills and that energy companies paid in to a £2million Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme.
But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the impact that has had on us all.
The only way to really make a difference is to pressure suppliers to lower their prices.
Why should they still get to keep the same profits when the rest of us are suffering and the goods they sell are hurting our planet?