Britons under energy pressure

British Chancellor Alistair Darling is seeking to hold talks with energy regulator Ofgem to discuss last week’s gas and electricity price rises by Npower as Britons are under pressure due to the energy price hike.

In a letter to Ofgem published Monday, Darling said he wanted to review the reasons behind the price rises and their implications.
Darling wrote in the letter, “I would be interested in receiving your assessment of gas and electricity supply and market conditions both in the UK (United Kingdom) and Europe and likely future trends. I would be particularly interested in your views on the relationship between wholesale price movements and feed-through to domestic retail prices.”

On Jan. 4, Npower, Britain’s fourth-largest energy supplier, increased its average gas prices by 17.2 percent and electricity by 12.7 percent, as the company blamed the price rises on soaring wholesale energy costs which it said have risen by 66 percent for electricity and 60 percent for gas since February last year.

Gas accounts for 40 percent of electricity production in Britain.

Npower’s 4 million customers in the country will now pay their annual bills of more than 1,000 pounds (about 1,970 U.S. dollars) on average for the first time.

Consumers will face intense pressures over the next 12 months with gas and electricity bills almost doubling over five years, according to analysts here.

Xinhua