Carers Information

Order your heating oil early - beat the bad weather and save money!

WINTER FUEL COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN BY THE HEATING OIL INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER ADVISORY GROUPS

Last winter’s prolonged cold weather increased demand for heating oil in the run up to Christmas while snow and ice disrupted road logistics. Despite the logistics challenges, heating oil deliveries in December 2010 were up by 40% on the previous year to their highest level in the last ten years. The heating oil industry has previously had an annual campaign to encourage early winter orders but with limited success.

Given that the potential implications of late ordering was a key lesson learnt from last winter, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with support from Defra, have worked with the heating oil industry and consumer advisory bodies to facilitate a more effective approach ahead of winter 2011/12 by coordinating existing disparate campaigns.

The various campaigns were launched in September to target a wide range of consumers (including the fuel poor, rural communities, and spot market purchasers) and continue into the autumn to encourage consumers to order early.

The coordinated campaign involves the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) for the heating oil distribution industry, and consumer advisory groups represented in England by Citizens Advice and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE):

pdf gifr Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) - Information pdf

Citizens Advice Website

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) Website

Commenting on the initiative, Energy Minister Charles Hendry said:

“I welcome this campaign by consumer groups and industry to encourage heating oil consumers to stock up early this winter.”

“The early snow last December shows that it is better to stock up before the winter, when suppliers have spare delivery capacity and prices are likely to be lower than when demand is higher.”

“Clearly, leaving orders to the last minute risks longer delivery times, especially if cold weather increases demand and disrupts transport making deliveries difficult.”