Gas & Electricity
British Gas makes the right move for poor customers
energywatch and Citizens Advice warmly welcomed the decision by British Gas to stop backdating price rises for token prepayment meter users - a practice that has left customers with huge bills they weren’t expecting through no fault of their own.
Energy suppliers hit by customer service crisis
2006 has been a truly awful year for domestic households, who have suffered the ‘triple whammy’ of rising interest rates, council tax hikes and soaring energy bills. There have been an unprecedented 13 domestic energy price hikes in 2006, which have resulted in annual gas and electricity bills rising by an average of £277 or 38%. The average energy bill has risen from £735 since the start of the year to £1,013 today, and the number of energy customers struggling to pay their bills continues to escalate at an alarming rate, with an additional 1.25 million consumers estimated to have fallen victim to fuel poverty this year alone. At the same time customer service levels have hit rock bottom, while the energy companies themselves continue to enjoy healthy profits of £6 billion.
How to burn £1 Billion!
Over 11m UK households squander £1 billion in energy savings by not switching, says The Motley Fool.
Government urged to remove the 5% VAT on Green Energy Tariffs
Through the Queens Speech, the Government outlined its plans to reduce energy wastage in the UK over the next five years. The climate change bill will seek to reduce Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 60% by 2050.
Scottish and Southern urged to lead the way with drop in energy prices
Scottish and Southern Energy is the latest UK gas and electricity supplier to announce interim results. It has announced a 35% increase in profits to £455 million, but has demonstrated that profits do not need to be made at the customer’s expense.