A survey of residents in and around Birmingham by Project Solar UK indicates that now is the time to consider solar energy as an alternative to heat and light our homes. An original poll, six months ago in March 2022 showed 5% of respondents in and around Birmingham said they would switch to an alternative energy source such as solar panels if there was an increase of up to 10% in their electricity bills.
Now a survey revealed today (28 October 2022) shows that increase of up to 10% has been a reality for 15% of people surveyed. Of more concern is that fact that a further 66% have seen bills increase by more than 10% with 5% claiming they have actually seen an increase of over 100% in their electricity bill!
The survey reveals that 33% of respondents surveyed in Birmingham agree that they do not have a good understanding of how much bills should cost and 42% of respondents surveyed do not know what their utilities are set to increase by. 49% said they find energy bills confusing and, in a worrying turn of events, 23% of respondents avoid checking their utility bills.
Simon Peat, CEO of PSUK says, “We wanted to reflect on the past six months with this piece of work. Back in Spring people said they would look at solar power as an alternative energy source if they witnessed their bills rising - with 5% of those we asked saying they would consider switching even if it was a hike of just up to 10%.
“What has happened is that bills have skyrocketed for 81% of Birmingham residents and we are experiencing the largest demand ever to our free information hotline as people want to understand more about how solar panels can help with energy price hikes.”
