The Fuel Bank Foundation, a charity that provides emergency credit to prepayment meter customers, said on 23 September 2026 that it has now supported over 2.5 million people1. The figure covers people it has helped across the UK, from the Northern Isles to the South Coast, the charity said1.
The charity reported that in the past three years it issued 111% more fuel vouchers than in the three years before, which it described as more than double1. It attributed this partly to its own growth, which has allowed it to reach more people, and partly to what it called a wider trend it cannot ignore1.
The charity said the nature of the demand it sees has changed. Where emergency fuel support was once mostly for people facing a one off crisis, it now says people come to it because they repeatedly struggle to afford energy, often after weeks or months of living on the edge1. It said the number of people needing this support should not be normal and should not continue1.
"Our long‑term ambition is to make ourselves unnecessary: a UK where everyone can afford uninterrupted access to the energy they need for daily life."
The charity did not publish a breakdown of the 2.5 million figure by nation, region or year, and no independent verification of the numbers has been reported1. It also did not set out the value of an individual voucher or the eligibility rules for receiving one in this announcement1. Its call was for systems change, including policies to make keeping warm affordable and protections to stop people being cut off from the basics during the coldest months because of affordability alone1.
Why it matters for households
The Fuel Bank Foundation's vouchers are emergency credit for prepayment meters, the meters where supply stops when the credit runs out. For a household on a prepayment meter, running out of money means no heat, light or power until credit is added, so the charity's figures describe the sharp end of fuel poverty rather than the wider picture of rising bills1. The 111% rise in vouchers over three years points to demand that the charity itself describes as persistent rather than a one off crisis, which is the difference between a household managing a bad month and a household that cannot cover energy alongside food and other bills1. Energy independence at home, in the sense of not depending on emergency support to stay connected, is what the charity says its long term ambition describes1.
What happens next
The announcement sets out no dated commitments from government, regulator or industry. The charity said it needs stakeholders, funders, policymakers and industry leaders to work with it, and that the path forward begins with acknowledging what the number is telling us1. It gave no timetable for the systems change it is calling for1.
Households looking for how emergency fuel vouchers work can read our guide to The Fuel Bank Foundation: Emergency Fuel Vouchers, and for the wider picture of bill support and grants and schemes there is our bills and price cap coverage.
Sources1 cited
- What 2.5 million people tell us about fuel poverty in the UK today | Fuel Bank Foundation, fuelbankfoundation.org