The latest Stay Energy Safe campaign launched on 23rd January 2023. The campaign focuses on the "Unknown Danger" that energy theft poses to individuals and communities. Our goal is to raise awareness of the dangers of energy theft and to remind people that tampering with your meter to save money is not an option. Energy theft can cause fires and gas explosions that lead to injury and death.
The campaign features a powerful video that brings to life the current struggle people face with the energy crisis and how they might be tempted to try anything to save money on their bills. It also references the dangerous videos found online that show how to tamper with meters. Unfortunately, with the exposure to these videos and the struggle to pay bills, the temptation to commit energy theft is increasing.
The video ends with a hard-hitting statistic determined within the recent Theft Estimation Methodology - a quarter of a million energy theft cases go unreported every year, putting us all in danger.
The Unknown Danger campaign launches on 23 January 2023 and can be watched below. Please feel free to share this within your organisations and with your customers.
Earlier this month, we also launched a follow-up Tick Tock radio campaign following the trial’s success earlier last year. This went live on January 4th in several areas, including Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Greater London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Newport, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Newcastle. The initial figures on Google Analytics show positive results, with hotspots such as Manchester and Birmingham performing the best. Manchester saw a 50% increase in new users and a 180% increase in reports compared to the previous week, while Birmingham saw a 29% increase in new users and a 77% increase in reports compared to the previous week.
Remember, energy theft is a serious crime that poses a threat to our safety. If you suspect someone is committing energy theft, please speak up and stay safe. You can report energy theft here.
In response to increased energy costs, the UK Government has allocated funds to help alleviate the financial burden on consumers. Two schemes of note are:
The Energy Bills Support Scheme, an Alternative Fund which aims to provide a £400 payment to eligible households who do not have a direct relationship with an Energy Supplier. This scheme covers many vulnerable households in need.
The Energy Price Guarantee, an Alternative Fuel Payment Fund that will capture any consumers who do not have gas supplies.
Both of the additional schemes are targeted to roll out early in 2023.
BEIS was tasked with implementing these two schemes and to identify eligible applicants, they required access to the Enquiry Services data. The data was needed as a matter of urgency so that those households most in need receive the funds to support their energy needs.
This request allowed RECCo to demonstrate that we are prepared to help in any way that contributes towards easing the financial burden and stress on consumers in the UK. We recognised this was an important request and responded by mobilising our colleagues and Service Providers to work fast and flexibly to find solutions that delivered the correct data quickly.
The request was fast-tracked, and our work stack was re-organised to accommodate this work. Some colleagues in RECCo and our Service Providers worked over Christmas to ensure this data set was delivered in the first week of the New Year.
The Operational Processes Review of the Electricity Enquiry Service (EES) and Gas Enquiry Service (GES) is nearly complete. We continue to identify areas to improve Access to Enquiry Services and Maintain Enquiry Services. We are developing a quicker process to consider applications to access energy data where the Use Case does not currently fall within the permitted use. RECCo is working toward a principle of opening-up data where it is aligns with our strategic aims, values, and principles.
