The campaign being established is to present the Scottish Government through public representation- for the Electricity and Gas supplies of Scotland to be brought back to public ownership.
To stop the obscene profiteering by energy companies and their shareholders.
To enable house fuel costs to be reduced by 50%.
Twenty three people in Scotland will die of a cold-related illness every day this winter, warns the charity Age Concern. And it is estimated that more than 2,500 people in Scotland will die this year as a result of the cold.
In the last 5 years, more than 14,000 people in Scotland have died as a result of the winter months and the warning from the Met Office of a harsh winter this year could mean even more deaths.
Shamefully, Scotland has one if the highest rates of winter deaths in Europe. And older people in Scotland are at greater risk of cold-related illnesses such as pneumonia than people in colder countries such as Finland or Austria.
The cost of heating, the poor standard of housing, low incomes and time spent outside in the cold all leave older people in Scotland vulnerable. Those most at risk tend to be pensioners living alone.
According to figures published in April, there were 419,000 Scottish households living in fuel poverty in 2004/2005, compared with 350,000 the previous year and 293,000 the year before. Pensioners, single adults and lone parents are the groups most affected - but no type of household is immune, says the group.
The increase is predominantly due to rising fuel-costs and with further increases in fuel price since 2005, the present level of fuel poverty is estimated to be even higher – at around 600,000 households.
Worryingly, Communities Scotland notes that even if prices had remained the same, there would have been no significant downward shift in levels of fuel poverty between 2002 and 2005.
This suggests that measures to improve both income levels and energy efficiency have failed to make any further inroads in reducing the numbers of households experiencing fuel poverty.
Feb-21st-2008
British Gas, the country's biggest Electricity and gas energy supplier, announced a 500 per cent rise in profits today, outraging campaigners who claim householders are being ripped off.
The company made £571m in 2007 compared with £95m the previous year.
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE)
£723.6 m-pre-tax profit.
