Citizens Advice Scotland publish report on providing support for households with electric heating

The report provides insight into the nature and reach of services that provide support to households that rely on electric heating, and explores consumers’ experiences of using these services and how services could be better supported. The research was carried out by Energy Action Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University and Dr Fraser Stewart on behalf of CAS.

Around 11% of Scottish households rely on electricity for heating. 51% of this group are defined as being in fuel poverty – nearly twice as many as the population as a whole – and we are yet to see the impact of significant electricity price rises since 2016.

Those who rely in electric heating often experience significantly higher heating costs, lower incomes and widespread disengagement from both the energy market and support services. As a result, this group often requires additional, holistic support to lower costs and resolve problems. However, many are not accessing the support that they need.

The report finds that there is a need for additional support to develop specialised, holistic advice services dealing with electric heating, the expansion of locally-delivered, face-to-face advice services, efforts to improve awareness of existing support services, more specialised training for advisers, longer-term funding for advice services, and targeted support for upgrades to electric heating systems.

The full report can be accessed at https://www.cas.org.uk/publications/hard-wired-problems