Fuel For Thought, from fuel poverty to climate justice.

Vested interests have shaped false narratives, spread misinformation and manipulated facts, perpetuating energy injustices and climate breakdown for decades. Fuel For Thought is a series of monthly sessions for collective learning to tackle lies: a space to share research and lived experience, clear up confusions, and answer questions.

Come along every third Thursday to gather the facts, figures and stories we need to shape our society into one that works for all people and the planet – from fuel poverty to climate justice.

Booking details will appear below a few weeks before each session.

Next Session

Session two: Heat and Light are Basic Rights fighting back forced prepayment meter installations – 16th November, 6.30pm

Are new protections sufficient, or will people die as a result?
How did we win the suspension last year, in PPM imposition?
If water suppliers can’t disconnect, or impose prepayment meters, why should other utilities be able to do this?
How can we bring that ban back – for good, this time?

Go here to register and receive the Zoom link for session two.

Fuel Poverty Action has been actively fighting forced prepayment meter installations since 2016. Energy firms leave our homes, children and relatives out in the cold while hoarding profits over our bodies – sick and and dying from cold-related diseases. Here’s a Living History of the fight against forced prepayment meter installations:

February 2016 – FPA and ally organisations deliver testimonies on prepayment meter (PPM) impositions to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) protesting the extra £300/year charged to PPM users. Following this, the surcharge was progressively reduced.
May 2016 – FPA interrupt British Gas AGM, reading a letter from a disabled woman forced onto a PPM.
December 2023 – inews begins reporting on forced PPM installations perpetrated on a massive scale by energy firms while energy prices soar and temperatures plummet.
January 2023 – FPA and supporting organisations hold Warm-Ups and winter deaths vigils in towns and cities across the UK, forcing a temporary ban on the forced installation of PPMs.
February 2023 – FPA speaks at launch of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on PPMs.
July 2023 – surcharge on PPM tariffs finally removed: there was no need after all to charge PPM users more than people on credit meters.
November 2023 – Homes in England and Wales are expected to see the reinstatement of the practice of forced PPM installations as temperatures drop.

Future sessions:

Plenty of Money: Does the UK really need to make “hard choices” because of a shortage of funds?

Is it true that the UK is short of money and all of us must make “hard choices” to pay for a green transition?
Why should we be poorer than a decade ago?
Where is our money going?
How can we get it back?

Public Ownership of energy: Untangling the many paths to ending private profit from one of life’s essentials. What would it mean to nationalise?

A parallel system alongside private ownership?
Community control?
Public energy generation? Supply? Or both?
What could the benefits and risks be?

Will going green make us poorer?: Costs to the economy, savings in cash and health and the money we currently spend on propping up fossil fuels.

What will it cost to transition the economy?
What would we save in cash and in health from better insulated homes and better heating systems?
How are fossil fuels being subsidised from public funds?

Robbing the Poor: In-work poverty, and the legal and illegal abuse of people on welfare benefits.

More information coming soon.

Past Sessions:

Session one: The Truth About Energy Pricing – 26th October, 6.30pm

Missed the session? Watch the recording here.

For the launch session of Fuel For Thought, we’ll be in conversation with Fuel Poverty Action’s Policy and Parliament lead, Jonathan Bean, to discuss the ins-and-outs of energy-pricing in the UK today.

Why did energy prices suddenly go through the roof? Is it really down to the war in Ukraine?
Who has collected and got rich off the money from our bills?
Why are electricity prices pegged to the price of gas, when renewables are 9 times cheaper?

More resources for The Truth About Energy Pricing:

This project is unfunded. While the sessions are free, donations are warmly appreciated (please add a note – ‘for Fuel For Thought’) and will enable us to broaden the reach and scope of the sessions.