Figures show that almost 42,000 people are living in fuel poverty across Rotherham and Barnsley.
Statistics on the Government website show 20,889 households in Rotherham were classed as living in fuel poverty with 20,798 falling under the same category in Barnsley.
That means 19% of households in Barnsley and 18% in Rotherham are classed as fuel poor.
Fuel poverty is defined as having to spend over 10% of net income on fuel.
Figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are from data collected in 2020 and there are worries the numbers will have increased even more due to the cost of living crisis.
John Healey MP said: “Britain’s cost of living crisis is getting worse. People are scared about how they’ll get through the winter.
“These figures show that people across Barnsley and Rotherham were already struggling with the cost of energy bills before prices spiralled even further out of control. My concern is that in reality, two years on from the basis of these findings, the number of people facing fuel poverty is now even higher.
“We can’t continue making working people pay whatever the big energy companies demand. Labour would stop the price cap going up. That would save households £1,000 this winter. And we would invest in sustainable, home-grown energy to bring bills down in the long-term.”
It comes as a report by the University of York revealed almost 60% of households in Yorkshire will be plunged into fuel poverty by January.
The report predicts that, even with the £400 fuel rebate being offered by the government, 58.5% of households will be plunged into fuel poverty in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Labour’s fully-funded £29bn plan would prevent the energy price cap rising through the winter, paid for by extra tax from oil and gas giants who are making eye-watering profits.
The emergency package announced by Keir Starmer would reduce energy demand and lower bills in the longer term by insulating 19 million homes across the country over the next decade through Labour’s Warm Homes Plan.