Ofgem action on energy suppliers powers Northumberland Warm Hubs

Akshay Kaul, Director General of Infrastructure for Ofgem, joined 150 locals and volunteers at the Warm Hubs centre – one of almost 500 community projects supported by Ofgem’s voluntary Redress Fund.

The fund, operated by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Ofgem, receives voluntary cash contributions from UK energy companies when the regulator finds they have breached their licence conditions, or let down their customers.

In the past six weeks, Ofgem has announced major compliance and enforcement actions against four energy suppliers that delivered almost £27m for consumers, with almost £14m of that going to the voluntary Redress Fund.

This money has helped to drive the development of the Seahouses Warm Hub, established by Community Action Northumberland, and a lifeline service last winter at the height of the energy crisis.

Mr Kaul said: “This is Ofgem’s enforcement powers resulting in benefits for consumers. Projects like Seahouses Warm Hub shows how our enforcement action directly helps energy customers.

"Through the hard work of our compliance and enforcement teams we make suppliers pay when they cross the line or let customers down. So, it’s right that when they do, it’s consumers who directly benefit via the support of the Redress Fund.

“I extend a huge thank you to Community Action Northumberland (CAN) and the incredible volunteers who dedicate their time to helping others through one of the toughest times in our history for energy bills.”

Christine Nicholls of CAN said: “We were thrilled to welcome Ofgem and Energy Saving Trust to our Warm Hub celebration at Seahouses.

"Without the support of Redress and Vulnerability and Carbon Monoxide Allowance (VCMA) funding we would not have been able to support the huge number of rural households through the recent energy crisis. We are very proud of our Warm Hub scheme.”

Created as a response to fuel poverty, Warm Hubs became an integral part of communities during Storm Arwen in November 2021, when widespread damage to the network left 4,000 homes without power for several days.

CAN was initially awarded £147,995 in June 2021 from Redress for their project, Remote Northumberland Energy Advice. They received a second grant worth £159,365 from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund.