CONSULTATION ON ENERGY COMPANIES' ETS WINDFALL PROFITS

That this House notes the recent consultation of East Dunbartonshire residents, which found that 87 per cent. were in favour of making energy companies use more of their Emissions Trading Scheme windfall profits to cut domestic fuel bills and improve energy efficiency; further notes with concern that according to the charity National Energy Action, there are already 5.1 million households in fuel poverty in the UK, while excess winter deaths are likely to be over 30,000 in 2008-09; further notes that the cost of investment by energy companies in energy efficiency and home insulation should not be passed on to consumers via higher energy bills, in place of responsible use of ETS windfall profits; and urges the Government to take urgent steps to tackle fuel poverty, including requiring energy companies to invest £500 million a year into a rolling programme of home insulation, roll-out social tariffs to over two million vulnerable customers and install smart meters in homes to display real time energy consumption costs.