Hackbridge residents living in the New Mill Quarter (NMQ) development have contacted me to express their anger that some of their charges are set to increase.
The Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Limited (SDEN) is a company wholly owned by Lib Dem-run Sutton Council, which we are told uses energy created by the incinerator to heat water, transport it along pipes to NMQ to provide them with heating and hot water. However, it is understood that this is currently being provided by back-up generators at NMQ itself while completions are being made to the incinerator.
After being elected, I received a lot of correspondence from residents of NMQ about, amongst other issues, SDEN and their bills.
I put out a survey among all the residents of NMQ and at the time of writing, the responses I have had to the questions around SDEN are quite extraordinary.
Out of the over 160 people who have so far taken part in the survey, 47% of respondents said they were not told, or unsure if they were told, that they would have no choice but to be supplied by SDEN in this way.
Even more shockingly, 71% of residents said their bills were a lot higher now compared to where they previously lived. A further 20% said their bills were somewhat higher, compared to just 6% who said their bills were about the same, 3% who said their bills were somewhat cheaper and absolutely 0 said their bills were a lot cheaper.
It is not surprising therefore that 91% of respondents said they would welcome the chance to change their supplier. 9% said they were unsure and absolutely 0 said they would not like to change suppliers.
I will be publishing the full residents of my NMQ survey very soon, and writing again to local residents.
I am very grateful to everyone who has taken part in my survey and to the NMQ Residents Association for being so proactive on supporting residents on this issue.
Given the strength of feeling among NMQ residents about the impact on their bills, many contacted me who were angry and disappointed after receiving a letter from SDEN about their new prices from April 2020. A copy of the letter is attached below.
As you will read, the letter says they 'anticipate' an 'overall reduction in cost' for the majority of residents. Indeed, there is a reduction in the Unit charge per Kilowatt Hour.
However, all other charges, including standing charges and service payments, are being increased as per the attached letter. From the correspondence I've received from residents, this certainly doesn't feel like a reduction for them, especially when they're already paying what they consider to be higher bills, and many felt insulted by a letter they received from the Lib Dems.
I will continue to work with NMQ residents in standing up to SDEN, and will be arranging to meet with them, even virtually, as soon as possible to discuss this.