Energy bill increase: My costs have more than doubled and I feel vulnerable for the first time - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Keith Massey, Bishopthorpe, York.

There has been much talk of our energy costs soaring which is disconcerting when you add the other inflationary costs of food and fuel that we are all having to cope with.

Now, as a pensioner on a non-inflation proof useless private pension, for the first time in my life I feel vulnerable.

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I put £40 of petrol in the car and it only seems to give me three or four short road trips.

Energy bills are on the riseEnergy bills are on the rise
Energy bills are on the rise

The reality came home to me last week when our excellent energy supplier, Octopus – who we have been with several years and recommended by Which? and Martin Lewis – informed us that our contract was coming to an end and that new contract arrangements would have to be signed up to.

We moved and downsized seven years ago into a normal-sized semi-detached house and on our present contract with Octopus we have been paying £198 a month for gas and electric.

They informed us that the new contract based on our energy usage would have to go to £480 a month, or to take out another plan based as a ‘loyalty customer’ would be a mere £420! To say I was shocked would be an under statement.

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We installed LED lighting so the kilowatt use is minimal in comparison. I had been planning on something like a possible 80/90 per cent increase but this is a 142 per cent hike. And a war in Ukraine hasn’t even kicked off and the Russian gas taps have not been turned off.

The current energy situation is completely unnecessary as the green lobby have been far too influential on irresponsible government policy for at least 10 years with British oil, gas fields and power stations closed and not utilising shale gas under our feet which would give us control and protect us, the public, and business.

To now seal them is criminal and absolute madness.

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