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Millions shiver in cold homes while British Gas profit
24 February 2011
Commenting on the record £742 million profits announced by British Gas today, Friends of the Earth's Warm Homes Campaigner Dave Timms said:
"It's grotesque that British Gas is making massive profits while millions of households shivered through the winter - £1 in every £4 spent heating our homes is wasted because of poor insulation.
"With global energy prices set to carry on rising, it's time we realised that until all our homes are made efficient and warm the great energy rip-off will continue.
"The coalition's Green Deal to refurbish British homes will leave many out in the cold unless it is part of a comprehensive plan to insulate all our homes, which includes more money to improve the homes of the fuel poor and a legal minimum energy efficiency standard for homes rented through a landlord or letting agency."
Notes to editors
- A recent Friends of the Earth survey showed 57 per cent of people kept the heating for more than 12 hours non-stop during the cold snap - despite worries about cost.
- Friends of the Earth is calling for the Government's Energy Bill, being debated in Parliament, to lead to a strategy showing how it will boost the energy efficiency of UK homes enough to meet our legal commitments to wipe out fuel poverty and tackle climate change.
- This must include a plan to improve cold UK homes that goes far enough to slash carbon emissions from houses by at least 42 per cent this decade, to help avoid dangerous climate change.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Feb 2011
