Dwyfor Meirionnydd’s MP and MS, along with the leader of Plaid Cymru have spoken of their concerns about the energy cost rise crisis.

MP Liz Saville Roberts said: “Despite having annual earnings which fall far below the UK average, people in Gwynedd will now also face the injustice of some of the highest energy bill increases.

“Two decades of energy policy management by Westminster governments, including a lack of investment in energy storage, renewable energy sources, and the retrofitting of homes has helped lead us to this shocking situation.

“Plaid Cymru has called on the Westminster Government to provide immediate support, particularly to those who need support the most.

“This includes reinstating the £20 uplift to Universal Credit to the over 8,000 claimants in Gwynedd, as well as extending it to legacy benefit claimants; a substantial state funded increase to the Warm Homes Discount and improving the eligibility criteria to cover all poor working aged households automatically and making improvements to Cold Weather Payment calculations that will help people in upland areas of the county in particular.

“Whilst there are many areas the Labour Welsh Government could take to curb the cost of living, such as capping social rents and freezing rail fares, it is ultimately the Westminster Government, for now, who hold the key levers to alleviate poverty and to properly get to grips with the energy and cost of living crisis.”

Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “Households across Wales, especially here in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, are facing a cost-of-living crisis.

“Bills are soaring whilst household incomes remain stagnant or fall.

“For many, this is an especially expensive time of the year, and as we emerge from the festive period, people shouldn’t have to choose between heating their homes, putting food on the table, and keeping up with the day-to-day cost of living.

“Gwynedd is particularly vulnerable to a spike in energy costs as houses are often poorly insulated and many homes are not on the National Grid.

“The Prime Minister must step up and support working families squeezed by these extortionate energy prices.”

Speaking in the Senedd, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price asked Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford about the impending energy cost crisis.

He said: “Surging debt and the rapid and accumulative rise in the cost of living may soon overtake Covid as the biggest crisis we face over the coming year, plunging us ever more into poverty and mental ill health.

“Many of the key levers, of course, remain at Westminster, but we’ve learnt even today, haven’t we, to place little faith in a Prime Minister who organises garden parties in the midst of a pandemic.

“When the global financial crisis hit, the Welsh Government then convened an emergency economic summit to pool ideas on what we in Wales could do independently ourselves to respond.

“Would you agree to consider convening a Welsh social summit to help devise an urgent cross-Government response to the cost of living crisis facing people and families in 2022?”