Wyndford community protests against energy price increase at Glasgow power plant

Members of the Wyndford Residents Union assembled outside SSE’s Wyndford district heating plant on Monday afternoon to highlight the “exorbitant” hike in their heating bills.

When it was installed in 2011, residents were told the facility was designed to alleviate fuel poverty, but now they claim it has done little to reduce costs to households in the area.

Now, they are seeing a 50% increase in their heating bills and are calling on SSE and Wheatley Homes Glasgow to stick to the original aim for setting up the plant.

Wyndford residents assembled outside the SSE district heating plant to protest the increase in energy prices. They were joined by Labour MSP for the Glasgow Region, Pam Duncan-Glancy.

Resident Nick Durie said: “That’s really unfair, people’s incomes are really stretched and there was already a problem of poverty here.

“They really shouldn’t be raising prices, especially since they have no costs for providing our heating.”

The protest comes as the Glasgow Times has been raising awareness of the cost-of-living crisis through our Beat the Squeeze campaign.

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According to SSE’s website, the 1.2 megawatt district heating facility burns gas to generate energy, which is sold to the National Grid.

The hot water left over in the process is then piped to the 1,800 homes in the estate, creating a cheaper and more sustainable source of energy.

However, residents argue this has done little to help families with the cost of heating.

Wyndford resident Nick Durie said SSE should not be raising prices as people’s incomes are already "really stretched".

Ellenor Hutson, resident and secretary at Wyndford Residents Union, said: “We’re in a unique situation in Wyndford because all of our heating comes from this power station here.

“It ought to do a lot to combat fuel poverty but it never quite has and at the moment it’s a problem because the price of fuel has generally gone up by about 50%.

“So we’re calling on SSE to make good on their promise to use this infrastructure to actually solve fuel poverty and take a look at their tariffs.”

The protest was branded ‘Hug Yer Dug Day’, a reference to SSE's tip to customers to “cuddle their pets” to save on heating.

Pepsi the dog took part in the "Hug Yer Dug" protest

“It’s an insulting suggestion to be making to people who are living an eat-or-heat situation,” said Wyndford resident and Union committee member Stephanie Martin.

“It shows their callousness and ignorance to the real situation that communities like this are facing right now, people are terrified for their lives.

“That’s why we’re highlighting that by naming this ‘Hug Yer Dug Day’, we want to make a mockery of the suggestions just as we feel they made a mockery of us.”

Stephanie Martin, resident and committee member at Wyndford Residents Union

SSE had made the suggestion in a blog article on "keeping warm in winter without turning up the heating", which was sent to customers in January this year, amid rising energy bills.

OVO Energy, which acquired SSE's retail arm SSE Energy Services in 2020, later apologised for the article.

Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, who joined the protest, said: "These companies make thousands and thousands of pounds in profit while people are freezing in their houses.

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“We’re seeing the highest cost-of-living crisis we’ve ever experienced in a generation and the answer to that is to hug your dog? It’s nonsense.

“I’m here today to support the families in the Wyndford to make sure that SSE does make good on its promise and does properly address fuel poverty.

“Hopefully they’ll come round the table so that we can resolve this and save families money and get them using their heating and their energy again.”

In response to the 'cuddle your pet' advice, an OVO Energy spokesperson said: “We understand how difficult the situation will be for many of our customers this year.

“We are working hard to find meaningful solutions as we approach this energy crisis, and we recognise that the content of this blog was poorly judged and unhelpful. We are embarrassed and sincerely apologise.”

Wheatley Homes Glasgow has been approached for comment.

SSE plc, which owns the Wyndford district heating plant, has also been contacted for comment.