Forging ahead with plans to build new fossil fuel power plants instead of investing in renewable energy looks set to add £300 per year onto energy bills, according to Friends of the Earth.
The green group has released a report, today, which shows the UK faces an annual bill of £8 billion to £13 billion extra for
gas and
coal by 2020, if the '
Big Six' energy firms build new
fossil fuel power plants and abandon plans for
green energy. The costs will likely be passed onto consumers and businesses, says
Friends of the Earth (FoE), meaning average UK household energy bills could go up by £308 by 2020 compared to 2010.
FoE’s 'The Dirty Half Dozen’ report is being published on the same day as Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has invited the big energy firms to meet with the energy regulator, Ofgem, and consumer groups. Ofgem said on Friday that the
profit margin for the big energy firms had risen from £15 to £125 per customer per year in the last three months. UK household energy bills are now averaging £1,300 a year.
Public inquiry
FoE is calling for a public inquiry into the Big Six, warning that the cost of imported gas is the cause of rocketing energy prices, not 'green taxes’, which some think tanks and commentators are blaming.
"The Big Six are tipping the UK’s energy system in favour of expensive gas while neglecting
investment in clean energy and slashing energy waste which would give consumers a better deal in the long run," FoE’s executive director Andy Atkins, said.
"David Cameron must urgently set up a public inquiry into the power of the Big Six energy companies – ending their stranglehold over the UK’s energy system will be good for consumers, good for business and good for the planet."
Promise to deliver energy savings
Today, Cameron pledged to start a "much more active" dialogue with consumers in order to deliver a "trusted, simple and transparent" energy market and to get people paying the lowest possible tariffs.
The promise was delivered in a joint statement with Huhne on the moneysavingexpert.com site ahead of today's summit with the energy companies. The meeting comes in wake of hikes in electricity and gas prices of up to 18 per cent in the past few weeks.
The energy companies have blamed the big increases in energy bills on the rising cost of wholesale energy, in particular imported gas.
Today, British Gas launched a package of measures which it said would help customers save energy and keep bills down.
As part of its Final Demand campaign, FoE is urging consumers to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to launch a public inquiry into the Big Six and not to axe support for green energy.
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