Moorland Fuels has signed up to participate in the Cold Weather Priority Initiative (CWP), a heating oil initiative launched by the trade association for our industry, The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS).
According to The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), each year in the UK, there are 40,000 so-called ‘excess winter deaths’ as a result of cold. 82.5% of these are among the elderly (aged 75 and over). Based on ONS data and a recent report by leading energy charities National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action Scotland (EAS) investigating the major challenges the UK experienced during the severe cold weather earlier this year, in England alone there were as many as 1,724 extra deaths during the ‘Beast from the East’ (22 February to 3 March 2018). Across the UK the number the number may even be as high as 2000.
The CWP initiative is designed to identify those customers, age 75+, who are most vulnerable to cold conditions and help prioritized for delivery of heating oil supplies throughout the winter months, especially during periods of extreme cold weather or fuel shortages. There are no costs involved in signing up to this initiative.
Moorland Fuels Managing Director Ben More comments: “We are urging members of the public, who are 75 years or older and use heating oil to heat their homes, to get in touch with us to sign up for the Cold Weather Priority initiative. If you have a family member or neighbor who you believe should be classed as a vulnerable customer, please encourage them to get in touch. This enables us to use this information in times of bad weather, to make sure that those who are most vulnerable are not left in the cold.”
FPS Chief Executive Guy Pulham said “This is an important industry initiative that was launched in 2017. Thankfully, situations where supplies of fuel are short and the cold is extreme are rare but before the winter sets in we are asking members of the public who are get in touch with their FPS member heating oil supplier if they believe they should be part of the CWP initiative.
If you would like to know more about the Cold Weather Priority, call 01837 55700.
