Energy bills need to fall in line with oil prices
December 2, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
Officials from a consumer watchdog group have become involved in a row over energy prices, after insisting that the price of energy usage needs to be falling in line with crude oil prices. Since the summer the price of a barrel of crude oil has plummeted by around 50%, but energy prices have gone up twice this year and not come back down. Energy giants have said that the price of wholesale energy is still high, hence the price of usage has not come down.
Ed Mayo, chief executive of watchdog Consumer Focus, said: “Oil prices have been falling since July, yet consumers have seen unprecedented rises in their gas and electricity costs. Consumers must now be wondering why they are left waiting. We want immediate action from energy companies to reduce their prices in line with falling oil prices. This will be good not just for consumers, but for the whole economy.”
Energy Minister Mike O’Brien has also said that he wants to see prices fall in line with falling oil prices. He said: “If there are benefits we want to see them feed through, not just to individuals who have to pay the bills, but to the economy as a whole to give it a boost.”
However, the government has been slated by opposition parties, who claim that it has been slow to assist people that are facing fuel poverty as a result of the increase in energy prices.
According to recent figures this year alone has seen electricity prices rocket by 28% and gas prices soar by around 51%, In total this has added a total of an average £1308 to annual household energy bills.
