SOME residents of Caerphilly county borough may not be able to take advantage of measures announced last year to freeze or reduce energy prices.

Energy companies announced up to £50 reduction in bills following discussions at Westminster, while Labour announced a price free if they win power.

But quite a few of the more rural parts of the county borough are still out of the reach of mains gas so are unable to take advantage of the cheapest ‘dual fuel’ tariffs.

It’s clear that the coalition government at Westminster hasn’t thought of areas such as Islwyn when arriving at its policies on energy.

But in parts of Islwyn people still face a choice between getting all their energy from electricity, or using oil, bottled gas or other off-grid fuels. This means that people aren’t eligible for the cheapest tariff. Under ‘dual-fuel’ deals, people who are near a gas main can get a discount on their energy bills.

Plaid Cymru welcomes measures to reduce consumer energy bills, although the real reason for rising prices isn’t green taxes but energy company profiteering which needs to be tackled.

That is why the Party of Wales has proposed a publicly-owned energy company, Energy Wales, with a not-for-distributable-profit model.

Councillor Lyn Ackerman Islwyn Newbridge