27% here living in fuel poverty

Causeway Coast and Glens District Council area registered 72.9% of the population to be not in fuel poverty, that’s 41,740 people. The number of people in the area who were in fuel poverty in 2016 was 15,480 (27.1%).

Bryson Energy operates a large number of schemes to address fuel poverty. It provides impartial energy advice to over 7,000 households each year and operates 27 oil clubs which have over 5,000 members.

Bryson Energy Director, Nigel Brady, also urged caution: “Of course we welcome the significant reduction in fuel poverty from 42% in 2011 to 22% in 2016. However, we need to understand clearly what these figures relate to. In 2016, at the time of this survey oil prices were at an all-time low. Recently there has been a significant increase in the cost of oil and we know through our operation of 27 oil clubs across Northern Ireland that many households are still struggling to heat their homes and meet their energy bills.

“We also need to bear in mind that a number of energy efficient schemes which operated between 2011 and 2016 will have contributed to this reduction, though some of these schemes or indeed their replacements are now suffering from budget cuts. “