As winter fuel allowance is cut for 2024 and energy bills are set to rise 10% for households across the UK, the need for technological innovation to drive fuel poverty relief has never been more urgent.
Just weeks after the Committee on Fuel Poverty published a concerning report indicating that fuel poverty has flatlined in England, the government has announced changes that will push even more UK households further into fuel poverty.
Last week, the new government announced it has "no choice" but to cancel winter fuel payments for pensioners, and Ofgem will be lifting the current energy bill price cap from £1,568 to £1,717 – an increase of 10%.
As much as 1 in 4 households in the UK are already believed to be experiencing fuel poverty, and these changes are setting a gloomy forecast for this winter. With a challenging few months ahead, the need to leverage AI and data technology to better understand fuel poverty distribution and how to tackle it efficiently has never been more urgent.
UrbanTide's AI-powered fuel poverty tool, uZero, can play a vital role in supporting organisations in identifying, deploying interventions, and tracking the impact of this growing fuel poverty crisis.
Tackling fuel poverty with data and AI
uZero is a powerful AI and data insights platform that maps, identifies and predicts fuel poverty.
By integrating anonymised real-time smart meter system data with multiple cross-sector datasets, uZero can support local authorities, housing associations, energy providers and social care providers to target energy support solutions that will protect the most vulnerable from the impact of fuel poverty.
The Chair of the Committee on Fuel Poverty, Caroline Flint, has said that the key to overcoming the fuel poverty crisis lies in targeted support. Reflecting on the publication of the Fuel Poverty Commity's Annual Report for 2024, which showed fuel poverty rates had flatlined, she said:
“This report is not defeatist. The Committee believes fuel poverty can be beaten. But for too many low-income households, the unaffordability of bills, especially in the coldest months, is all too real. We foresee that targeted financial support, possibly including the use of social tariffs, for vulnerable and low-income households may be needed for some years to come.”
The report was commissioned by the government to provide advice on how to meet its own fuel poverty milestones, and the decision to cut winter fuel allowance is likely to have a substantial impact on progress.
By monitoring fuel poverty data and leveraging the power of AI, we can target the necessary support to those most in need and ensure that resources are distributed in the most efficient way possible.
Learn more about how uZero works or see how uZero is already helping local authorities and their delivery partners deploy energy-efficient investments to fuel-poor households across the UK.
