Mark is strongly backing a new campaign by a Fuel Poverty Action Group, supported by the North Edinburgh Trust, which is being launched to highlight the injustice that sees low income households being forced to pay in excess of a third more for their gas and electricity than those who are better-off and in a position to take advantage of cheaper online energy deals.

Mark has submitted a motion to the House of Commons supporting the campaign in order to publicise the issue and get other MPs on board (for the text click here)

Mark said: "Energy companies keep telling us how much more they are doing to help hard-pressed customers yet we know they are still making the poor may more through excessive ppm charges. The companies have been repeatedly warned by the Government at Westminster that they need to take action. I'll be seeking support from MPs across the House of Commons for a motion I have laid before Parliament and if the companies continue to fail to act then I'll be asking the industry regulator Ofgem, through its ongoing 'Unfair Pricing' inquiry, to force the companies to lower ppm prices."

The campaign is also strongly supported by local MSP Malcolm Chisholm who said

"We're experiencing one of the coldest winters in recent memory and almost every day I hear from local people just how difficult it is to keep feeding their gas and electricity meters. It is unacceptable for energy suppliers to make extra profits from their poorest customers and I am placing a motion before the Scottish Parliament calling for the companies to make fuel more affordable for ppm users and to demand that existing ppm users are the first to be given new smarter meters."

In addition, the Action Group will be calling for areas with high numbers of pre-payment meters (ppms), such as North Edinburgh, to be given priority status when the national roll out of new smarter energy meters begins.

Many of the residents in the area served by the independent community-led Trust use ppms to pay for their gas and electricity. And while this pay-as-you-go method can help residents manage their household budgets they are harshly penalised for using ppms.

For example, Scottish Gas, whose corporate headquarters sit within the community, charges its local ppm customers £1368 a year for their gas and electricity - £314 more than it charges online customers who pay £1054. And ScottishPower is even worse, charging ppm customers £341 more than those with internet tariffs (£1333 compared to £992 each year).

Customers of the other big energy companies don't fare much better, Npower ppm customers pay £284 more, EDF ppm customers £197 more, EON ppm customers £131 more and Scottish Hydro ppm customers £127 more.

In contrast the Action Group points to the experience of ppm users in Northern Ireland who, as a result of the installation of new smarter user-friendly ppms, enjoy cheaper energy than customers who pay by direct debit.

Prepayment meter use is concentrated among consumers on low and fixed incomes who can least afford to pay higher prices:

• 36% of ppm users are unemployed
• 35% of ppm users are lone parents
• 32% of ppm users have a long term illness or disability
• Consumers with an income below £25,000 are 5 times more likely to use a ppm than consumers with an income above this level

The Group is calling on energy suppliers to bring prepayment prices down and into line with the cheapest deals. John Davidson, a campaigner from the Group, said:

"It is scandalous that energy companies penalise their poorest customers by making them pay more. Common decency tells you that those least able to pay their bills should not be contributing more to energy company profits than better-off customers. Companies should drastically reduce their ppm prices now and if they won't do it then they should be made to.

"When you look at the impact of new smarter meters on prices in Northern Ireland it shows that ppm users needn't be treated like second class citizens. It's vital that areas with a high level of ppm usage are given top priority when the smarter meters begin to be installed here over the next few years."

You can read more about the North Edinburgh Fuel Poverty Action Group's campaign in the latest issue of Leith and North. For further information you can also contact Graham Kerr on 07734 884405.