Plaid Cymru has launched a campaign to help communities in Wales who are off the gas network, and therefore face higher costs and little consumer protection.

Ceredigion’s MP candidate for Ceredigion, Mike Parker, last winter wrote to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, highlighting the fact that large number of households in Ceredigion are unable to take advantage of the cheapest ‘dual fuel’ tariffs.

Figures from the Government and British Gas show that 75-80% of the homes in Ceredigion, including significant towns and large villages, are out of the reach of mains gas pipelines. This makes Ceredigion the least connected county in the UK, marginally worse than the Scottish Highlands.

Now, Plaid Cymru launched a website, www.offgridcymru.org, where people can register their interest in receiving mains gas, in order to demonstrate the commercial demand. The party is also committing to encouraging collective energy-buying schemes to help off-grid customers to obtain cheaper energy, and has called on the UK Government to extend the energy watchdog OFGEM’s remit to include people off the mains gas grid. Currently, off-grid customers do not enjoy the same protections given to on-grid customers.

Together, these three measures would help to deliver a fairer deal for energy customers in Ceredigion. The county has recently seen the launch of ‘Club Cosy’, an innovative scheme in to support collective energy buying schemes.

Plaid Cymru Ceredigion’s Westminster spokesman, Mike Parker, said,

“It’s galling to see energy companies making big profits while people in Ceredigion are struggling to meet energy costs.

“Westminster politicians often forget such as Ceredigion when formulating energy policy. The infrastructure has been neglected to the extent that our area is now worse than the Scottish Highlands in terms of the percentage of houses connected to the gas grid.

“In large parts of Ceredigion, people face a choice between getting all their energy from electricity, or using oil, bottled gas or other off-grid fuels. This means that people aren’t eligible for the cheapest tariff, and don’t get the same consumer protection from OFGEM.

“Plaid Cymru’s three-point ‘off-grid’ plan is designed to encourage expansion of the mains grid, and secure a better deal for off-grid customers.”