Ofgem visits Seahouses Warm Hub celebration event

8th Jul 2023

CAN invited guests from Ofgem and Energy Saving Trust to see first-hand the positive difference Ofgem’s enforcement action makes to people’s lives at a special event last week bringing together Warm Hub volunteers from across the county. 
 

Akshay Kaul, Director General of Infrastructure for Ofgem, joined 150 locals and volunteers at the Warm Hubs centre in Seahouses – just one of nearly 500 community projects supported by Ofgem’s voluntary Energy 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 that they have breached their licence conditions, or let down their customers.
 

This money has helped to drive the development of Warm Hubs. Akshay 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 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. VCMA funding via Northern Gas Networks has also enabled CAN to develop a free Warm Hubs toolkit which can be accessed by eligible organisations across the country.” 

Read more about the visit