The Energy Support Unit (ESU) operated by Muirneag Consulting on behalf of the Point & Sandwick Trust (PST) – based on the Isle of Lewis, recently surpassed the important milestone of distributing £100,000 in energy grants to needy households within their local area.
Funded through the Point Power community owned wind farm, the overall aim of this project is to utilise and build on the existing evidence base available to the Trust to understand the extent and depth of energy poverty across its communities in light of the current energy crisis, offer structured prioritised support while developing a solution-focussed and intelligence led five year project action plan.
The PST area covers 1,600 homes and from the initial 6 months of household interaction, the Muirneag team have developed a methodology and toolkit for determining the level of fuel poverty being experienced. This in turn allows the capital ESU grant support to be targeted on a sliding scale from £500 for those classed as fuel poor to £1,500 for those at the higher ends of the extreme fuel poor category.
The purpose of the grant support is to meet immediate need of households and afford some respite whilst seeking signposting opportunities to provide longer term interventions which can assist with reducing bills, improving comfort and assisting mental well being.
The project to date has exposed the dire need for additional support with robust evidence highlighting 92% of households falling into the Scottish Government’s definition of Fuel Poverty and approximately 70% being classed in the ‘extreme fuel poor’ category. Of those households assessed so far, on average they are experiencing a depth of fuel poverty whereby they are spending 31% of their net income on fuel and the median fuel poverty gap is in the region of £2,400.
Given the demands of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019, these figures demonstrate the stark reality for households in the Point & Sandwick area and the enormous challenge faced by local and national governments to find a way to reach those affected households and meaningfully address the need.
Muirneag Consulting together with the PST will therefore continue to strive to improve the energy and health outcomes for the residents of the PST area.
[The above was published for Energy Action Scotland’s Annual Review publication]
Energy Support Unit exceeds £100,000 milestone
Monday 24 July, 2023
The Energy Support Unit recently surpassed the important milestone of distributing £100,000 in energy grants to needy households on the Isle of Lewis.
