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About 25 per cent of households are predicted to turn off their heating at some point next winter in order to save money on rising heating bills, says a price comparison website. Uswitch stated that in January a survey of nearly 1,600 of its customers had indicated that 20% of them had turned their heating off regularly in order to save money. Furthermore, the group predicts that with fuel tariffs expected to rise, the number will be higher this year.

The cold spell over the winter led to a total rise in greenhouse gases in the UK in 2010. Figures releases by the Department of Energy and Climate Change showed carbon dioxide, which accounts for about 84 per cent of UK emissions, was up 3.8 per cent. Carbon dioxide emissions from homes, which relate only to heating and cooking with gas, rose by 13.4 per cent in 2010 due to shivering households turning up the heating.

A scheme has been reintroduced which can help households struggling to pay their energy bills. The Warm Front scheme has reopened for applications, and this provides heating and insulation home improvements for England’s poorest families and most inefficient homes. Among the heat-saving measures are loft and cavity wall insulation, and draught proofing. It is hoped that the scheme will help more than 90,000 households by offering heating upgrades worth up to £3,500.

Energy secretary Chris Huhne has given his backing for proposals to simplify electricity and gas tariffs. “Consumers deserve the best possible deal, which means rough and tough competition in the marketplace,” he said. The ‘Big Six’ suppliers in Britain have been ordered to reform their pricing and stop confusing customers, or face a formal referral to the Competition Commission. The firms have just two months to accept wide-ranging reforms, said regulator Ofgem.

The nuclear crisis in Japan will force up UK gas prices and have a knock-on effect on energy bills, say experts. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was among 11 of Japan’s reactors to be shut down in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami disasters, increasing demand for liquefied natural gas. Adam Forsyth, analyst at Matrix Group, said: “If the price rises and is consistently at a high level then it has to come through to people’s gas bills eventually.”

Oil firms have shut down production due to the uprisings in Libya. The country usually produces 1.6 million barrels a day, making it Africa’s third largest producer after Nigeria and Angola. Most of this oil is being exported to Europe. Wintershall, the oil arm of German chemical group BASF, said it was cutting its 100,000 barrels a day output. It is the first time that a significant amount of production has been shut down since the tension started.

Your heating bills could be costing £100s more per year than they need to be, says the UK energy regulator. Ofgem has released a series of video guides aimed at raising awareness of customers’ rights. They include dealing with doorstep sales people, and debt and disconnection.

A leading authority on public health says the system for calculating most domestic fuel bills in the UK is contributing to thousands of deaths each winter. The UK Public Health Association (UKPHA) says two-tier tariffs, where the first units cost more, hit the poorest hardest. UKPHA chairman Professor John Ashton says winter death rates are much higher in Britain than in Scandinavia.

Future oil drilling in the North Sea was dealt a blow after a high court judge said he would hear a legal challenge from campaigners Greenpeace over deep-water licences for drilling off the Scottish coast. This could see many projects blocked and existing licences quashed. It could put more pressure on the price of oil, which recently hit $120 a barrel during the Middle East crisis.

Minister for energy Charles Hendry is urging the Office of Fair Trading to bring forward its review into the off-grid energy market. He said: “Underlying many of the complaints are concerns about the challenges of supplying oil and gas to rural communities and whether the current market structure provides the reassurance that consumers can get fuels for heating when needed at a price they can afford.” Many consumers during the winter complained of oil shortages.

Ofgem is considering forcing electricity and gas suppliers to offer a basic tariff to protect customers against soaring bills. It is one of the options being considered as part of the regulator’s investigation of the energy market. It is understood that Ofgem has not yet approached companies about the measure.

Global markets were thrown into turmoil as a result of tensions in Middle East countries where vast stocks of oil are kept. The rising price of oil, which could fuel further rises in already high inflation rates and hit corporate profits, affected stock markets. At the beginning of the week US shares, Asian stocks and European shares all closed heavily down.