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FREE - THE FUTURE OF RURAL ENERGY IN EUROPE

Durham Rural Community Council is working in partnership with Community Action Northumberland, Tees Valley Rural Community Council, Calor, ACRE and National Energy Action (NEA), to promote an initiative introduced by Calor called ‘FREE’ - the Future of Rural Energy in Europe.

FREE is a national programme, aimed primarily at off-grid communities, to provide advice about rural energy including information about fuel choices, energy efficient technologies and carbon reduction measures. Increasing costs of fuel and the difficulties that some communities in remote rural areas experience in having choice about their fuel supplies can result in people finding themselves in “fuel poverty”. The term is used to describe households where more than 10% of household income is spent to achieve a satisfactory heating regime (21°C in the living room and 18°C in other occupied rooms), as well as meeting their other fuel needs (lighting, appliances, cooking, and hot water).

Fuel poverty can be caused by poor insulation standards and inefficient heating systems, low income and low fixed incomes such as pensions or benefits and rising fuel costs. The latest estimates for the number of households experiencing fuel poverty are for 2009 and the figure for England is 4m (5.5m in UK). NEA has estimated that this figure is likely to have risen to around 6.5m during the winter of 2010/11. Many of these households are particularly vulnerable to cold-related ill health – older people, families with children and householders who are disabled or have long-term illness. The Government was committed to eradicating all fuel poverty by 2016 and in the most vulnerable households by 2010. However, after a decrease in the level of fuel poverty for many years, since 2005 there has been a rapid increase. It is estimated that for every 1% increase in fuel prices, another 40,000 households enter fuel poverty.

The permanent solution to fuel poverty, in all homes, would be to ensure that they are so energy efficient as to be ‘fuel poverty proof’. In County Durham and the North East there are a number of local and regional initiatives. These have been initiated by Local Authorities, Health Service organisations, and through the private and voluntary sectors, to provide expertise, advice and practical help for householders to tackle their fuel bills and energy needs. The FREE initiative is helping landowners, communities and householders in the remoter rural areas of County Durham to get hold of the right kind of advice and information, and providing practical help to follow up on local initiatives and activity to tackle energy issues.

We are currently planning to establish a county-wide bulk oil buying scheme that will help to reduce the costs for households dependent on oil for heating, and increase the efficiency of bulk oil deliveries. We have received funding from the County Durham Community Foundation, Dale and Valley Homes, and Durham County Council to cover the set up costs for this project. Watch this space for further information.

For further information about FREE in County Durham, please contact: Liz Charles on 01207 529621, or e-mail Liz.Charles@durhamrcc.org.uk.