My first visit was two years ago to Sustainability Live 2011 and I was inspired by the quality of the entire event. In fact I so overwhelmed by the number of different stands I really wanted to meet and chat with that I went back to the NEC all three days the first year and twice the second year. However, what impressed me most of all were the seminars. The format works so well – three short presentations and then Q&As. I set myself a goal that I would be speaking at the event within three years. Yesterday I spoke – one year early. Goal achieved! Admittedly the last slot on the last day is a slightly tough gig, because even though it was over by 3.20pm too many clearly choose to slide off early from their day out of the office! That said it was amazing to be there, in Energy Theatre One, and with an extremely influential industry professional sat next to me chairing the session – Ellen Bennett editor of Utility Week. As ever, I wanted to make an impact – who hasn’t seen too many “death by powerpoint” sessions before? So I did my very best to wake up the audience with possibly the first ever audience participation skit to illustrate how buying together gives the group power by gaining control of the middle ground. Two other industry professionals gave their excellent presentations and then we had what could only be termed as “lively” debate in the Q&A. How brilliant as that meant job done – if you can inspire debate in such a short period then you know that some of what you said did what it was supposed to do…you answered some questions, opened some minds and created some more. Of course many new contacts were made too so now is the time to follow those up – immediately – but I am also already designing what role I believe Community Buying unLimited should be playing at Sustainability Live 2014. Finally, I congratulate and thank the entire team for pulling together another amazing event. 

chris@community-buying.com

@powerofthegroup

When temperatures hit 20 degrees this weekend and maybe just maybe spring finally arrives, it will be cold comfort for thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of heating OIL users that have simply been forgotten. Never before has it been so obvious that heating OIL users are considered to be an unimportant annoyance to Government, but don’t worry because your failing is not unique – successive Governments have failed to know what to do about a thing called Heating OIL. 

Terminals supplying the South West ran out of heating OIL yesterday – Wednesday 10^th April, 2013. Yes it is 2013, we have complex energy security plans – don’t we? So can you believe that this could be possible? Well yes actually, because it happened across the East of the country last week! There is a shortage of heating OIL on mainland UK, there has been for months and I have now been telling you for as many months. But NOTHING has been done.

This has been an extraordinarily tough winter for heating OIL users and for many suppliers. They deserve better. Heating OIL in the UK runs to a “just in time” system and when things go wrong they go very wrong. Energy security?

Can you imagine the reaction if we were to have rolling blackouts for gas or electricity? At the very best you and your Government would be annihilated from all sides – the media would be in heaven. At the worst there may even be public disorder. Actually, at the absolute worst even more winter deaths may occur. But that won’t happen because we have spent billions ensuring it can’t happen. 

So how come it can happen with the most commonly used additional fuel source – especially in rural areas by 1.7 million homes and often by isolated and vulnerable people – and not one person in a position of authority makes a statement, not one headline is written about it, in fact not one tiny blip appears to be registered on the radar for looking after the most vulnerable in our society. How is that possible? How can this be so incredibly unimportant? 

I have met with you, Ed Davey and John Hayes. You know all this. I warned you all in December that the UK did not have enough heating OIL on the island. I warned you that the UK had no plan B if we had a bad winter! I spent time in DECC talking about contingency, clear coherent ideas on easing supply issues, intelligent plans of bringing heating OIL users together, truly representing them for the first time ever, and putting in place a key role – a Rural Energy Tsar – to whom we could go to at times exactly like this when we need a single coherent voice to inform and plan a solution. I urged you not to give us another committee, when things go wrong we need someone that can take action. 

Nothing. 

So what have we got as a result of zero action? This prolonged winter has created a greater demand than many suppliers can remember in years. It has been exacerbated by the simple fact that heating OIL users are struggling with their bills in an unprecedented fashion. Finding large upfront sums of £350 upwards is far from easy, you grasp that right? This has lead to many that could normally afford to buy larger amounts now buying less, more often. Having done so after the New Year, expecting to be able to eek that OIL out until the summer months when buying should be easier, many have had to come back to the market for a further delivery. Just like their Government these OIL users have no plan B, because there isn’t one. Suppliers are reporting record numbers of run outs too. One suggested they’d been getting ten a day for the last three weeks. When run outs occur suppliers schedules are shot to pieces and often they perform heroics getting to them very quickly. But you must know that this is not about flicking switches and sending energy down a pipe, a cable or a line. There are a finite number of drivers, trucks, hours and days, with a finite number of litres on those trucks. When these have been pushed to maximum then they are at maximum! Which leads me to say that our experience of what suppliers are doing right across the UK to get these massive demands fulfilled has often been nothing short of extraordinary. This is a time when they would normally be letting drivers have holidays and when trucks could be serviced and off the road for a day or two. Every single one of these additional factors has made their task even more unenviable.

Run outs mean one thing: people sit and wait for their OIL. Often their only way to heat the space in their homes. Think about this too. We have had constant freezing nights. Were this over Christmas many would be looked out for by neighbours and family, but during April? Why would safety nets be in place when it should be spring? Imagine the additional strain this will have heaped on our health service and every agency that works with the fuel poor, or those specialising in outreach to the vulnerable and elderly. What if winter deaths are higher and occurred much later this year because the island ran out of heating OIL? How will we feel then about having no plans for this eventuality

These are extraordinary times. We have been urging our members to heed that and only order right now if they absolutely need it, as a result those that can wait a month are waiting. This resulted in some of our planned orders being reduced by 50%. We have also been urging everyone to dip their tanks, the old fashioned way, and ensure they do not allow themselves to run dry. But many have been caught out and we have poured more cans of emergency OIL into tanks than at any time in the last four years. We are reacting to this situation at speed with calm solutions and clear instructions, what are you doing?

I have a critical question: did you even know that terminals across the UK had been running low, let alone actually getting to the point of running dry since and over Easter?

Actually I have two: what are you going to do about it now? We might be heading for a heatwave, but some suppliers are on a delivery window almost to the end of the month – this situation will not unravel quickly – many rural residents are at risk and will remain so even when spring makes an appearance next week. When the sun shines the plight of the heating OIL user will become even further from the Government’s focus.

Some months ago somebody first spoke those words “backwardated market” and set in motion what has turned out to be a calamitous situation, a multi-million pound industry running out of the product it needs to deliver just when more people than ever before have bought it. If you think that is the way to run an industry at a time when the subject of energy has never been more important – including critical issues such as energy security, energy efficiency, fuel poverty, OIL fuel poverty, carbon emission reduction, I could go on and on – then continue to do nothing. I for one disagree and venture to ask which of us the majority of 1.7 million households would side with? But don’t worry, remember nobody is interested in heating OIL, so this won’t make the papers and it will certainly never get on Jeremy Paxman’s agenda.

chris@community-buying.com

@powerofthegroup

Thank you to our suppliers

We work with around 40 suppliers – generally building very close working relationships. Many are extraordinary companies, who do extraordinary things and often with little or no thanks. Which is why we encourage feedback and pass it on with thanks when we get it. We felt it was a particularly pertinent time to share some of these comments: 

I meant to confirm that the oil delivery was impeccable. The standing instructions were followed so well I didn’t know the delivery had been made until I found the delivery note. Outer access door shut properly as well.

Thank you for organising our emergency delivery, the company were totally brilliant.

The driver just delivered. He’s come from Kidderminster in these dreadful conditions. Can you tell the company how impressed we were? Hope he makes it safely back.

Just thought I’d let you know your wonderful oil delivery company tried to deliver today, sadly our road is too snowy to get the lorry in and out safely. Superb service tho’! Hope snow disappears soon!

This new company offer a first class service. Had a call from them on Friday, delivered on Saturday. They certainly know how to impress.

We are extremely grateful to those companies that treat our members with such respect, understand the benefits of working together and are prepared to build excellent working relationships with CBL. You know who you are. Thank you.

Welcoming more!

As we grow we would like to work with more suppliers right across the UK. Particularly those that want to closely work with us on the vital rural issues of: alleviating OIL Fuel Poverty, building more sustainable villages and reducing carbon emissions of delivery. Far from the perception that Community Buying costs suppliers, we know that suppliers can increase their profits by working with CBL! Come and talk to us about all of that, but even more importantly about price transparency.

Price transparency…err what price transparency

During this last week of really large difficulties: shortages of kerosene, panic among many heating OIL users, trying to work out if the customer that begs for OIL because they have run out has actually run  out, a four day week (followed by another!), even more snow, and so on…we have received some extremely fair prices for our members and as usual we have been extremely fair with our suppliers – getting to the right price is a two way street – but then there is this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8lYteN9KGE

Before you watch it ask yourself what would be the absolute maximum an OIL supplier should be charging per litre right now…is 80ppl too much? What about 85ppl? What if it were more…?

What next with this?

We want price transparency so that things like this never happen again. But maybe you disagree? We welcome your thoughts on what should be done about this.

If we were to achieve price transparency we would never have to worry about making a call like this ever again – we would be very happy about that – and OIL suppliers would make more money, spread more evenly across the year, that is a fact! Even more importantly all those good comments above about what an amazing service many suppliers provide, and all the good work so many do, would not be tarnished by the actions of the few. I am very well aware of the pressures on this business, but I am acutely aware of the pressures many are facing trying to heat their homes, afford their OIL and, in far too many cases, simply stay alive. So whilst I expect suppliers to make a healthy profit I also wish those that go too far would think about something Mahatma Gandhi once wrote:

“Recall the face of the poorest and weakest person you have seen, and ask yourself if this step you contemplate is going to be of any use to them.”

Come and contemplate your next steps with us and working together let’s make delivering OIL across the UK less of a feat.

Please come and talk to us at: chris@community-buying.com

And follow us on twitter: @powerofthegroup

A Positive Social Impact

• “Apple don’t do discounts” – so we were told – but with the buying power of a group we negotiated a package for a 10% discount. That is what Community Buying does. The power of the group (@powerofthegroup) shifts the power to the group and a better price, a better deal and a better outcome is created. It always creates positive social impacts.
• OAP iPad Intuition - one of our most loyal members, thought an iPad would be a great idea. We weren’t quite prepared for exactly why (see A Member’s Story below). Our Ana went to see him and his wife for an hour’s introduction and within minutes they could see that life was undoubtedly going to be enhanced with so many applications that would be useful. 

• Bridging the generation gap – think of the number of people that would welcome this service. A friendly face to show them something that they probably think isn’t for them. There are thousands of vulnerable, isolated, lonely people that we could help and this is a huge potential for positive social outcomes.
• NEETS venture – we only have one Ana. But we work with organisations that work with young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETS), that would love to be able to share their knowledge of the latest gadgets and IT with those that they would never have interacted with before. It could create hundreds of jobs in the community. Ana is currently designing a four week programme so that they can teach it, for an hour a week. The cost is offset by learning how to switch to cheaper services like energy, phone or insurance and by using their new toy to enhance their own life.
• Driving the local economy – we didn’t get our deal with Apple, we went local. IT specialist resellers, European Electronique Ltd, who employ 120 local people. It is a great story for them of their social responsibility impact and for our MP, David Cameron, another Big Society success.

But can an iPad really help humanity?

It can if you think about “A Member’s Story” where an iPad enables our member to watch the cricket in the same room as his lovely wife whilst she watches TV, or read his books, and distract him from battling ill health, or in his words: ”Keeping my mental faculties from atrophying and playing games for providing a great time waster”. More importantly an iPad enables them both to watch their grandchildren grow-up in Australia. 

An iPad can clearly be used to enhance lives that deserve to be enhanced.

Do you know of anyone that we could help?  Please contact us…

chris@community-buying.com    @powerofthegroup

One of our most loyal members – 85 year young Charles – responded to the iPad deal saying that he would like a black one with an Ana. What he meant was yes he wants to buy an iPad and with it the hour of tuition where Ana will set up his new machine and show him some of its capabilities.

But then Ana said: “How about I go and give him an hour’s tuition from switching it on to showing him how an iPad can help him, but on my machine just to make sure he definitely wants one.”

Charles thought it was a fabulous idea and with that we have a new NEETs venture. Putting together iPad savvy young people with those from the very highest echelons of the iPad demographic!

chris@community-buying.com

And now for something completely different…a new ipad 2 with a unique 10% package discount…and guess what, if it goes wrong another new ipad 2!

LATEST NEWS…the first 100 get a free reusable strawberry bag to put your Apple in…trendy, funky and really rather clever!

What are members saying?

“How do you do it – get a deal that good for an apple?” Amanda Johnston, Belfast

“I would like one but with the hour of tuition from Ana or Emma please.” Charles Sturt, Oxon (aged 80)

“I don’t want an ipad but my niece has been after one, this amazing deal will be perfect.” Hannah Jago, Eynsham

What makes this deal unique? OK so Apple price protect their machines, which means there is no such thing as a dirt cheap ipad. So we were thinking about how important it is to our members to ensure that this amazing piece of kit actually lasts longer than five minutes. What if it stops working, we thought to ourselves, what then? We don’t mean what if you drop it in the bath, eat your food off of it, throw it out of your pram when your footie team loses or, please no, have it stolen – we rather hope that these days the accidental bit of your contents insurance would cover all that. What we mean is if it develops a fault, any fault, what then? Well problem solved…you get a new one!

Which ipad? The ipad 2, black or white (so you can choose black or white – there are no red ones), 16gb and if you want to know more about it, the specification and what Apple’s own deal is then click here to go to the Apple site: 

What next?  Just whizz us an email saying “yes please” and we will send you all the details you need to know to get your hands on this amazing package discount – be in the first 100 – don’t miss out on the strawberry bag.

e: chris@community-buying.com | tw: @powerofthegroup

So given that this was the day on which we were supposed to raise awareness of Fuel Poverty and hardly a word was written or spoken about it, I suggest we call today National Fuel Poverty UNaware Day and start again.

What do you suggest?

chris@community-buying.com

“The evidence gathered by the OFT suggests that at a national level, competition is working well in the UK road fuel sector,”

Which simply leads me to ask what is the point of the OFT?

David Cameron asked me to write to the OFT when I was highlighting the price hikes for heating OIL in December. I explained they don’t listen to me so he should write to them. He did. We still don’t have a response. But here’s the thing, if they can’t see what is wrong with a business that is so obviously wrong is it any wonder that they have never been able to get to what is wrong in one that is so skilled at being opaque and confusing? 

If the OFT cannot help us with such important issues…what is the point of the OFT?

chris@community-buying.com

If you live in a home with central heating powered by OIL then you will probably remember that there was a huge learning curve to getting used to it; if you don’t live with it then lucky you. Either way imagine for a moment that you are 19 and you have moved into your first home on your own with your little boy who is just two. When you moved in somebody mentioned something about a tank in the garden which was a quarter full of something called kerosene. It was April and you thought nothing of it. Come October you went to turn on your heating, but unfortunately you found that it did not come on. What do you do? There were so many things to think about and cope with just getting used to being on your own with your little one, OIL wasn’t a priority. Bewildered and worried you ask a neighbour for help, they take a look in your tank to find you have a problem – one empty tank.

I personally looked in that tank some weeks later to see that it wasn’t just empty it had been completely drained – it may have been stolen but it was more likely the last tenants had used it up. Either way it simply meant no heating. In the meantime Leanne had borrowed several electric heaters from various different sources and had learnt the hard way that those things suck your money up. The one positive was that she could at least manage to keep paying small amounts onto her key card for her prepayment electricity meter and so they were not freezing. 

That is when the agreement we put in place with Cottsway Housing Association began. Deeply concerned about Fuel Poverty, Cottsway put their money where their mouth is and funded Smart Meters for an initial pilot with some of their tenants who use OIL and are particularly vulnerable. In return we have developed our Community OIL Fund so that we can purchase OIL on behalf of their tenants. Once fitted the Smart Meters inform us of the amounts they use and they can then pay for their OIL as they use it. This is the first pay as you go system for OIL in GB and it creates a solution to an issue that the heating OIL industry has never been able to solve. It is the fairest way to ensure those on low incomes are able to heat their homes using heating OIL and help them make the step up out of OIL Fuel Poverty.

So what has the impact been for Leanne? When she was using the electric heaters she was topping her card up frequently and averaging £50 per week. Since she began using the OIL she has reduced her weekly electricity spend by over £30 a week. But this is the crunch question: how much has the OIL she has used cost her? Well it is early days but the great news is that the £20 a week payment plan we set up is more than covering her OIL usage. In other words her £50 spend has been replaced by two separate spends of less than £20 each and she is saving well over £10 per week. If this continues for the six months of the year she is likely to use her heating then she will be over £260 better off. When I explained that to her and asked her what having an extra £260 a year will do for her she began to well up. This has happened several times now and it catches me out every time so I smile and try to move on! Quickly I showed Leanne the online graphs from the Smart Meter so she can see what she is using and she literally did a double take and said: “I feel like I finally understand what I am doing”. Then I showed her the little device that changes the temperature and shows how many more days usage she could get for her money and she said: “I am going to save even more if I use that too”.  

Happy heating OIL users!

I don’t really know what else to say, I really don’t. It works! It has worked for many others too as we have put OIL in their tanks and they have responded in many different ways but often with some tears: a lovely old lady who had become a widow last year said she hadn’t even known how to take the lid off the tank or call for a top up because her husband had always done everything, so she had run out of OIL and not ordered since!

If we had not put this in place Leanne would still be bewildered about her central heating and she would be feeding her meter with money that she can’t afford, simply because she could never have afforded the upfront payment for the minimum delivery. This is simply unfair, but then Heating OIL is unfair. The pay as you go system is such a unique and inclusive solution that we must take it across every county, every housing association and along the way to every OIL user that needs it.

The Community OIL Fund is an investment fund, a social fund and a sustainability fund – we have already been inundated with amazing funding offers, interesting offers of support and difficult cases to help.

I have a question: would you like to help? Levi would tell you it can make a world of difference.

chris@community-buying.com 

Last year was an incredible year for Community Buying Groups in general and OIL buying groups in particular. In recognition of the amazing lengths many went to across the entire process from order to delivery, CBL is delighted to announce the winners of the 2012 Community OIL Buying Awards.  These individuals, suppliers and organisations went the extra mile and certainly thought way outside the box to help make Community OIL Buying an even bigger social and environmental success – protecting many vulnerable OIL users across the UK.

The award winners for 2012 are:

Customer service legend:  Kim Dowson, Pace Fuelcare

Supplier of the Year:  Moorland Fuels

Members’ favourite delivery driver: Seamus Cunniffe, Pace Fuelcare

Exceptional delivery award: Sweet Fuels

Fair price award: David Grannum, Isle of Wight Fuels

CBL member of the year:  Anthony Shepherd, Oxon

Local group coordinator of the year:  Derek Smith, Shropshire RCC

Industry expert award: Keith Guppy

Innovation in OIL tank security: James Lodge

Greatest social impact:  Kate Clemmow, Cottsway Housing Association

Greatest environmental impact: OxTreeGen 

Special mentions: Semmens OIL for fair prices in December; Craig Barnley of Butler Fuels for just getting it; Shaun Galvin of Butler Fuels for doing everything he could on our members’ behalf to wrestle with his organisation as it made the transfer to the dark side; BD Fuels for taking the time to understand the point of where this is all going; Christine Bartle for successfully administering the UK’s largest single community based OIL buying group; Bethan Keirl for building an exemplary community buying group for OIL across the three villages local to her and Lionel Cooper for bringing together his unique community with real inspiration.

Overall winner for Visionary of 2012:  Linda Watson – Chief Executive – Oxfordshire Rural Community Council. For having the belief to roll out the community based scheme we built together from one to 22 counties, resulting in over 8000 individual orders between January and November in 2012, with a total number of litres delivered of over 7 million, and with it the inclusion of hundreds of vulnerable OIL buyers and the reduction of many tonnes of delivery carbon emissions via coordinated delivery schedules.

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to everyone that we have not been able to mention for every part you played in making 2012 such a success. What you have all done has made an outstanding contribution to so many communities across the UK – and yet our work has only just begun. You will all be invited to receive your awards and play your part in an upcoming “Fair Energy” event we are planning for February, where we look forward to announcing additional award categories for 2013.