Over the last number of months, NEA has experienced a significant rise in the number of households seeking emergency support. Unfortunately, we expect this trend to continue as we believe as many as 40% of households might now be struggling due to the spiralling energy costs. Ahead of the upcoming Assembly Election, NEA are calling on politicians to commit to tackling the Energy Crisis head on. Below, we outline our key asks which we believe will assist in easing the pressures on vulnerable households in Northern Ireland, both in the short and longer term.

NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Utility Regulator’s Draft Forward Work Programme (FWP) 2022–2023.

NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the SONI governance licence modifications consultation.

The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI) plays a fundamental role in providing vital information, advice and advocacy for all consumers in Northern Ireland, with a focus on vulnerable consumers. This work has great importance for NEA and many organisations throughout Northern Ireland, both strategically and operationally, and we welcome the opportunity to respond to this Draft Forward Work Plan 2022–2023.

The Budget provides the Executive with an opportunity to improve the lives of people in Northern Ireland by allocating resources to high priority areas in order to improve outcomes for citizens.

NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Department for Economy’s Consultation on ‘Heat Networks – Building a market framework’.

This policy briefing highlights the positive steps that can be taken now by the UK Government and energy regulator Ofgem to respond to the current energy crisis and support vulnerable energy customers this winter. It is hoped that this will prompt policy interventions in advance of Ofgem announcing in February the next revision to the energy price cap.

The report details that there were 5,802 deaths in Northern Ireland in the 2019/20 winter period which is the third highest number of winter deaths in the last 10 years.

This year’s UKFPM identifies the opportunities associated with decarbonising heat for fuel poor households; the barriers they face in doing so; the likely risks of the decarbonisation agenda for them; and which policy developments and interventions are required to ensure that the decarbonisation of domestic heating can be fair and affordable.