December energy bill strike is ‘absolutely concrete’

An energy bill ‘strike’ will definitely be taking place this December, regardless of the amount of pledges to do so, the Don’t Pay UK campaign has confirmed.

The campaign was launched earlier this year in response to spiralling energy costs and aimed to gather 1 million signatures pledging to cancel their direct debits on 1 October.

The strike was called off in September after attracting less than a fifth of the required numbers.

Campaign spokesperson Franklin Dawson, a private tutor from Lewisham in south east London, joined the campaign in late August after meeting activists in his local area.

Speaking to Utility Week, Dawson said the strike will now be taking place on 1 December if the government does not agree to the core demands of reversing the price cap to the pre-April 2021 level of £1,042, ending all enforcement of prepayment meters and introducing an emergency social tariff. He said the new start date is “absolutely concrete”.

He explained: “So this strike will be going ahead unless, of course, the government makes an intervention and accedes to the demands that we’ve been making by that date. We will be striking. We are gathering pledges at an increased rate every day. We’re currently hovering around 250,000 so that’s already a large number.

“We’re really looking at this as linking up ‘won’t pays’ with ‘can’t pays’ really because we have reliable evidence now that there are untold numbers of people out there who simply can’t afford to pay this and are facing destitution. We simply can’t afford to let those people be isolated and face fuel poverty this winter. So we are joining in solidarity with them to force intervention.”

As the campaign was gaining publicity earlier this year, concerns were raised about the impact customers refusing to pay their bills will have on their financial situation, with worries they will accrue large debts to their supplier.

Dawson said for many people it was largely irrelevant whether or not they pledged as they simply cannot afford to pay, but he did however acknowledge the risks involved.

“Of course there are risks involved in joining a mass non-payment campaign. We have always been clear about that and we do what we can to offer advice on that front to anyone who has pledged to mitigate the risks that are involved as much as we can.

“There are consequences but the whole thrust of this campaign is that we need to force a government intervention. We’re not asking people to stop paying their bills in perpetuity, to never pay them again and accumulate thousands and thousands of pounds worth of debt which would admittedly put them in danger.”

Dawson would not give an answer when asked how long the strike will last: “It’s impossible for us to give a determinate answer to that question because it all depends on what the response is.”

The cost of living crisis and the sector’s responsibility to mitigate it will be one of the key themes at Utility Week Forum on 8-9 November in London. Find out more here.