UK Councils are looking at organizing public “warm banks” for those residents who will not be able to pay their electricity bills in the coming winter, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The idea of public heating places was supported by the municipalities of Birmingham, Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow and Aberdeen. According to the initiative, public centers and libraries can become places of heating.
"Keeping warm will be a huge challenge for so many people, with the price of using domestic heating spiraling. Whether that's local community centers, places of worship or libraries, we want to help people to find places where they will be welcomed, free of charge," Cllr John Cotton, a Cabinet member at the Labour-run local authority in Birmingham, said as quoted by the Telegraph.
This comes after local authorities expressed concerns about rising energy prices.
"It should not be the case that people cannot afford to keep their home warm, but that is the reality that we are facing here in Birmingham," Cotton added.
It is expected that in October, the average bill of a British household will reach £3,500.
Earlier, Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, announced an 80 percent increase in the energy price cap to an average of £3,549 ($4,194) per year starting on 1 October because of rising global energy prices. Since its last revision in April, the energy price cap has stood at £1,971 ($2,315). In October 2021, the price cap was £1,277 ($1,500). Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley warned that energy prices are likely to continue to rise, and called on the country's future prime minister to tackle the problem.
After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 and Brussels imposed several sanction packages against Moscow, the energy situation in Europe deteriorated considerably.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which is the main gas supply route to Europe, had been operating at 40 percent of its capacity since mid-June. Russian energy giant Gazprom attributed its underperformance to delays in the return of the Siemens turbine from Canada, where it was sent for repairs, because of western sanctions.