#energy-bills

#energy-bills

This budget must be a living standards budget. Households up and down the country [are] still suffering a painful Tory pay hangover leaving this Labour government with lots of ground to make up.

James Fitzgerald, landlord of the Thatched House in Hammersmith, said his costs have risen by 22,000 over the past year - with the increase in National Insurance a major factor. He said he had already cut his own wage, reduced staff hours, and trimmed other running costs, and there was no more room to make savings. "If it goes up again, eventually I'll end up doing it for free and then I'll have to pull out. There's no way to survive."

An Essex couple have become the first people in the country to trial a scheme that sees them heat their home using a data centre in their garden shed. Terrence and Lesley Bridges have seen their energy bills drop dramatically, from 375 a month down to as low as 40, since they swapped their gas boiler for a HeatHub a small data centre containing more than 500 computers. Data centres are banks of computers which carry out digital tasks.

the government's drive to deliver clean power is "the best way" to bring down energy costs, amid calls from opposition parties to scrap green levies. The energy secretary told an industry conference the UK's dependence on fossil fuels was its "Achilles heel" and argued clean power was the only way to reduce bills. The UK government is aiming for clean power to meet 95% of electricity demand by 2030, and Miliband has pledged to lower average bills by 300 by that date.

Twelve thousand people are supposed to be attending Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham over three days this week (according to Reform at least), and Crossman is one of them. Their leader, Nigel Farage, has said it is ridiculous to refer to carbon dioxide as a pollutant and added: I can't tell you whether CO2 is leading to warming or not.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

"News of higher bills will not be welcomed by households, especially as winter approaches. While the added costs behind this forecasted rise are aimed at supporting those most in need, it does mean typical bills will increase despite relatively lower wholesale costs. It's a reminder that the price cap reflects more than just the market price of energy."

The Government is making a desperate bid to stave off rising energy bills this winter, with plans to extend the lower rate of VAT on gas and electricity.

The second successive monthly fall in UK GDP in May confirms that the strong growth of 0.7% reported in the first quarter was just a flash in the pan.