People working from home during the coronavirus pandemic fuelled the biggest recorded rise in electricity usage in Brighton and Hove in a single year.
Domestic meters recorded that 443 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity were consumed in homes in Brighton and Hove in 2020, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
This was 5 per cent more than the 421 GWh consumed the year before and the biggest change since comparable records began in 2012.
Across Britain, electricity use in homes rose even more – by 5.6 per cent in 2020.
But while people spent more time at home, lockdowns also forced many businesses to close, sending non-domestic consumption down by 11.1 per cent.
As a result, overall electricity use fell by 4.8 per cent – the largest year-on-year fall on record.
The figures were published at a time when energy prices are going up, driven by the soaring cost of gas, with domestic bills predicted to double this year.
A number of suppliers have gone bust since September and commentators have been warning consumers about the effect of energy price rises on inflation and the overall cost of living.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves is calling on the government to remove VAT on domestic gas and electricity bills through the winter months to help families weather the storm.
The Labour MP said: “Right now, people are being hit by a cost of living crisis which has seen energy bills soar, food costs increase and the weekly budget stretched.
“We need a sustainable and ambitious approach to energy, which is why Labour would also ramp up ambition with our plan to retrofit 19 million homes, making our energy supply chain more secure without hitting household savings.”
Labour cited new figures from the House of Commons Library showing that rising energy, food and other bills were expected to generate an extra £3.1 billion in VAT receipts this year.
The Treasury could use the extra cash to fund the scrapping of VAT on domestic energy bills.
But the government said that VAT receipts were forecast to be below pre-covid levels, with a loss of £2 billion compared with directly before the pandemic.
The Conservative Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met energy companies and regulator Ofgem after Christmas to discuss how to deal with soaring gas and electricity prices.
The government said: “Throughout the meeting there was discussion of the issues facing the sector and an agreement for meetings to continue over the coming days and weeks to ensure UK consumers are protected.”
The government said that vulnerable people were being supported by initiatives such as the warm home discount, which had been extended to cover an extra 750,000 homes, as well as winter fuel payments and cold weather payments.
