Energy prices in UK have risen twice as fast as EU

According to a recently released report the cost of energy usage in the UK has increased twice as fast as in the EU. The figures were released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The figures showed that gas and electricity prices in the UK had increased by 29.7 percent in the past year, and this compared to a rise of 15 percent in the EU. Officials have said that consumers in the UK are being hit ‘faster and harder’ than their European counterparts when it comes to energy prices.

An official from the consumer watchdog group Consumer Focus said that the UK needed to learn from other countries in the EU, which were managing to keep their energy costs down.

He said: “The UK has a relatively free market, but the freedom to cut prices in the early years now seems to be the freedom to raise prices with impunity. Of course, those least able to afford it suffer most. The suppliers must offer their most vulnerable customers social tariffs and reduce prices generally at the earliest opportunity.”

However, an official from the Energy Retail Association said: “What the OECD’s figures fail to demonstrate is that British customers have enjoyed historically very low prices compared to Europe and indeed the rest of the world. Primarily, this is due to us having our own vast reserves of natural gas in the North Sea and not being exposed to global prices in the same way as we are now. We are no longer an energy island. With increased demand from growing economies such as India and China, the prices we now pay for our energy are more vulnerable to fluctuations across the world.”

Tags: retail association, energy usage, organisation, energy prices, development, rest of the world