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Half of consumers worried about paying energy bills

Half of consumers have said they are worried about paying their energy bills this winter, according to the latest government survey.

The seventh wave of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (Decc) public attitudes tracker showed that 48 per cent of people where “very” or “fairly” worried about paying their energy bills, up from 40 per cent in July this year, and marginally higher than September last year (45 per cent).

The survey, which was conducted between 25 and 29 September, also revealed there was an increase in the number of people who were more worried about paying their energy bills than any other household bill, up to 13 per cent from 8 per cent in September 2012.

However, the proportion of people who said they would or may switch remained unchanged at 34 per cent.

A high level of concern about future energy prices remained, with 84 per cent of respondents saying they were concerned about steep rises in energy prices in the future.

Attitudes to energy efficiency remained largely unchanged, with the same proportion of people giving a lot (28 per cent) or a fair amount (49 per cent) of thought to saving energy in their homes.

The survey also showed a marginal fall in support for renewable energy to generate the UK’s electricity, fuel, and heat, from 79 per cent to 76 per cent between the September 2012 and 2013.