A Way Out of Fuel Poverty?

It's predicted that 40% of people in the UK will fall into fuel poverty (this is when heating and eating become alternatives). Polly Toynbee, consequently advocates a proposal by Fuel Poverty Action (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/21/people-struggling-pay-energy-bills-help). The proposal is basically a simple idea, turning the current financial arrangement on its head. All UK users of gas and electricity, pay a substantial standing charge. In addition, households pay for energy use. This has discounts, as more energy is used. This inevitably means that, the poorest (especially those using pre-paid meters), pay proportionately more for lighting, heating and cooking. The Fuel Poverty Action proposal is to give everyone a minimum quantity of 'free' energy. The amount would be just sufficient for someone to manage frugally in a small home. The tariff for extra energy use would then rise on a steep gradient. This would mean that people in big properties and/or heavy users would pay more. It could mean that the heavy users would actually pay for the costs of the free energy allocation. Certainly, there would be a strong incentive for everyone to cut back, as much as they could, on energy use. This would include high users who could turn off lights, don an extra sweater etc. That might be good for the planet, as well as the UK population. Toynbee points out that older people and the sick/frail, who have to stay home all day, could be allocated extra energy allowances. There are, however, other considerations. What about people, living in rural areas and unconnected to gas supplies, who have to get their energy via oil deliveries? Not all people, living in bigger properties, are necessarily rich (it could, however, be an added stimulus to down-size)? What about people, like members of government, who get all their energy free? The basic idea certainly has some merit. It could also be applied to the provision of water. It is, however, unlikely to appeal to government/a media with a built-in antipathy to such 'socialist' mechanisms.