Dickson Pushes for Long-Awaited Energy Strategy to be Published

East Antrim Alliance MLA, Stewart Dickson, has continued to push for details of the long-anticipated Energy Strategy due to be released from the Department for the Economy in the coming weeks.

Mr Dickson said: “Two out of every three homes in Northern Ireland are currently heated by fossil fuel heating oil, with natural gas providing heat for the majority of the rest.

“This is in stark contrast to homes in the rest of the UK, where most houses are connected to the gas network and fewer than five percent rely on home heating oil.

“Our reliance on these fossil fuels to heat our homes leaves us vulnerable to rapid cost increases, linked to price spikes in the global energy market.

“The Department for the Economy has said that the new Energy Strategy will set out the pathway for eliminating our reliance on imported fossil fuels and support the expansion of secure, locally sourced and sustainable low carbon energy sources.

“Unfortunately, the Strategy is still to be released, and as such I haven’t had a chance to look at the detail of what the Department is proposing. I appreciate that these things can take time, but winter has already arrived, and an Energy Strategy is needed now more than ever”.