Carmarthenshire to be 5th Hardest Hit Part of UK by Rising Energy Bills

Carmarthenshire is set to be hit hard by the expected rise in energy bills in April, new figures have revealed with figures showing the County will be the third worst hit in Wales and 5th hardest in the UK as whole.

An analysis by the Welsh Liberal Democrats shows that the average yearly bill for homeowners in Carmarthenshire is set to skyrocket by £757 – the equivalent of £63 a month – once the new energy price cap comes into effect.

This is significantly above the forecasted national average uplift in bills for each household of £598 per year.

Last year the average homeowner in Carmarthenshire paid out £958 for their annual energy bill. Under the new price cap coming into force in April, that figure is set to rise to £1,715.

The Welsh Lib Dems have called for a one-off ‘Robin Hood’ tax on the super-profits of oil and gas giants, to fund the doubling and expansion of the Warm Home Discount to those in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit, giving 20,169 households in Carmarthenshire £300 each off their heating bills this year.

The Party are also calling for the doubling of the Winter Fuel Allowance, helping 21,850 pensioners in the area keep their homes warm.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid and West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds said:

“These figures reveal that people in Carmarthenshire are facing eye-watering increases to their energy bills when many local residents are already deeply worried about their next heating bill landing on their doormats.

“It is hardly surprising that it is people in rural areas are the worst affected. It is yet more evidence that the Conservatives and Welsh Labour are taking our rural communities for granted.

“Families are facing an energy bill nightmare, meanwhile the Conservative Government in Westminster is asleep at the wheel failing to do anything to protect vulnerable people from this cost-of-living crisis.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats have set out a clear plan to give thousands of people in our area £300 each off their heating bills this year. It’s time Boris Johnson and the Conservative’s stopped taking our local communities for granted and offered families the support they need to cope with energy price hikes.

“Long-term we need to see the Labour-Plaid Cymru administration in the Senedd significantly ramp up its insulation programme, with support to improve household insulation targeted at those who need it most.

“The Welsh Government has missed all of its fuel poverty reduction targets since 2010, we simply cannot leave this issue unaddressed any longer.”