14,000 cut off this year for unpaid energy bills

SIXTY-EIGHT customers a day – 14,450 in total – had either their electricity or gas cut off in the first seven months of this year.

The Commission for Energy Regulation has looked at buying 10,000 pay-as-you-go meters to allow poverty stricken account holders, who need electricity, to avoid having to pay hefty bill arrears.

This year, the cut-off rate for electricity was the worst of the two, with 10,678 customers having their supply stopped in the first seven months of this year – 969 higher than for all of 2009.