Mum of two’s fuel bill doubled as oil prices spiked
South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage says more needs to be done to support people facing crippling energy bills
A young mum with two small children faced a more-than-double increase in the cost of filling her heating oil tank after prices rocketed following Donald Trump’s war on Iran.
The unnamed mum is among thousands of households in Wiltshire and the South Cotswolds facing spiralling bills following the outbreak of war.
South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage told her constituent’s story during a House of Commons debate on the price of heating oil.
She told the Westminster Hall debate: “The South Cotswolds is one of the most rural off-grid constituencies in England with about 20 per cent of households relying on heating oil, which is about four times the national average.
“A young mother with two small children faced a sudden price increase from £350 to get her tank filled up to £800.
“Rural households already pay a premium on everyday goods that the Joseph Roundtree Foundation has put at up to 20 per cent, and face a fuel poverty gap of nearly £1,000 pounds compared with urban houses.”
The MP said Parliament needed to consider creating a “genuine long-term resilience to potential future shocks.”
Oil-buying consortiums in rural villages would provide some short-term relief, she said.
But the long-term answer is to “get communities off fossil fuels altogether, particularly through the use of community-led renewable energy projects.”
She said: “We need the government’s local power plan to genuinely deliver for rural communities to get rid of the barriers to grid connection assets asset access to capital and the planning complexity that are stopping many community schemes before they start.
“We need reform of the grid rules so that community energy schemes get priority in the connection queue and a right to local supply.
“This is genuine energy sovereignty for our rural communities.”
The MP welcomed a recent £17 million government support package, but said the £35 per household was “not enough to fill a jerry can.”
Heating oil prices are rising much more quickly than motor fuel prices because petrol and diesel are cushioned by tax, competition, and stock dynamics, while heating oil is exposed directly to a very tight kerosene market and weaker consumer protection.
In late March, Wiltshire Council was awarded £783,000 to distribute through its Crisis Resilience Fund to help the poorest in society cope with the crisis.