Soaring gas and energy prices creating a cost of living crisis for Sheffield families, says councillor

Labour councillor Ben Miskell says “a decade of dither, delay and poor planning” with Britain’s energy sector has prompted the crisis.

He will introduce a motion with Coun Karen McGowen at full council next week to debate the issue.

Global energy prices have rocketed which means the cost of energy for UK utility companies is three times higher than it was a year ago.

The Government price cap is due to be updated in April amid warnings that people’s energy bills will rise by more than 75 per cent compared to the same time last year.

What can be done to ease the crisis?

Coun Miskell says Labour would increase and expand the Warm Home’s Discount and

pay for it with a one-off windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers who have profited from price rises.

He said: “Families and businesses in Sheffield are facing an energy price crisis because a decade of failed Conservative energy policy has left us deeply vulnerable as a country and it is starting to hurt families in Sheffield.

“Labour would take fully-funded measures to save most households around £200 or more.

“We’d also target extra support on top of that for the squeezed middle, pensioners and lowest earners – saving over 80,000 households in Sheffield up to £600 off their bills in total.”

Coun Miskell said Labour would accelerate homegrown renewables and new nuclear and also retrofit 19 million homes to save households an average of £400 a year on their bills.

Miriam Cates, Conservative MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, says energy costs are impacting heavily on the steel industry in her constituency.

She said: “A challenging long term threat is the price of energy, with UK steel makers like Stocksbridge paying twice as much for their electricity as French competitors.

“As we move away from traditional, carbon-intensive methods of steel making, it’s even more important that we address this issue.”

Councillors will discuss the issue at a meeting on Wednesday, February 2.