By Imogen Thomas
On the 1st of July, two important things happed. The government, failing to protect households from energy firms using wars to profiteer, put up our bills yet again. And FPA and allies showed up at the door of the Department for Energy, to tell Minister for Energy Martin McCluskey that we won’t stand for it.
Campaigners erected 3 wind turbines with messages displayed on their blades reading “Make Green Fair”, “End Oil Wars” and “Energy For All”.
The campaign groups, which included Greenpeace, 350.org and Energy Embargo For Palestine, are calling on the government to take action to share the benefits of cheap renewable energy.
“Today’s price hikes show that yet again the government has failed to protect us from energy sector profiteering,” said campaigner Stu Bretherton.
“The UK’s dependence on fossil fuels is leaving us exposed when wars break out. And the government is letting energy companies get away with blatant profiteering. More than £500 of our bills already goes to paying the profits that are lining shareholder pockets.
“That’s why we’re calling for the government to expand cheap-to-produce renewables, and put in place guarantees so that we’ll all feel the benefits in the form of bill savings.”
Ruth London, co-founder of FPA, says “climate-friendly solutions will stand or fall by whether they’re seen to be benefiting all of us.
“From wind farms and solar panels to heat pumps, heat networks, home retrofits, storage heaters and hot water tanks, everything must be geared to ensure sufficient, essential, clean energy, for all.
“Fairness will be the touch stone of success or failure.”
Demonstrators will be handing in their petition, which has gained over 12,000 signatures, and which calls for “renewable energy for all”.
The campaign has garnered support from politicians, including the newly-elected Green MP Hannah Spencer, who says:
“Today’s energy price increase puts an unacceptable burden on people who are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It always falls on normal people to scramble to make ends meet while fossil fuel giants continue to make excess profits.
“The government has failed to protect people from this rise, so they need to act now to bring down these eye-watering energy costs for good.
“That’s why I’m calling for policy costs to be moved off bills and instead funded via progressive general taxation – something that would deliver immediate relief to those that need it most.
“The government also need to get serious about rethinking our broken energy system for the long term – scaling up renewables faster, fully decoupling the price of gas from electricity, and ending rampant profiteering.”
Spencer has also tabled an Early Day Motion on energy costs.
The demonstration gained press attention, with spokespeople interviewed on the ground. Media coverage highlighted Hannah Spencer MP’s support.
Kim Bryan from 350.org says:
“The UK has just endured another extreme heatwave, exposing how unprepared we are for the realities of the climate crisis. Hospitals have struggled to cope, schools have closed, and transport networks have been disrupted. These are no longer isolated events, they are the consequences of a warming world fuelled by fossil fuels.
We urgently need to electrify our homes, transport and industry, and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. But that transition must be affordable and accessible for everyone. No one should be forced to choose between paying their energy bills and embracing clean technologies.
“That’s why we need permanent windfall taxes on the extraordinary profits of fossil fuel companies to help fund lower energy bills, home insulation, clean heating and public transport. The companies driving the climate crisis should help pay for the solutions. A fair transition is not only possible, it is essential if we are to protect people from both soaring costs and worsening climate impacts.”
A representative of Energy Embargo For Palestine says:
“As our energy bills rise by 13% today, pushing working families further into poverty, we are seeing the world’s largest oil and gas companies on track to pocket an outrageous $234 billion in profits this year. Backed by government subsidies and shielded by captured regulators, our domestic energy providers are the same corporations that wage wars and plunder resources across the world.
“Our demand for a transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewables cannot be dependent on us extracting alternative cheap fuels at the cost of the lives of people across the world. We must unite our struggles – whether that is tenant unions fighting for better housing, resistance against the far-right, organising against ecological collapse – to build a socialist and anti-imperialist transition that creates a liveable future, not just for us, but for all the people of the world.”
Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, says:
“Every household is paying the price for continued energy costs with companies making huge profits along the way.
“It is time to stop this merry-go round of customers struggling to keep warm in the winter and ensure that those with decision making powers understand that enough is enough.
“We want to see affordable and sustainable energy, a fair share of the green market and capping the profits of private companies.”
Campaigners also took to social media to show their support, using the #MakeGreenFair hashtag.
You can follow FPA on social media here: Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook.
