Press Release
MP Challenges Energy Companies To Be Honest
Recent domestic energy price increases will impact strongly not just on the quality of life of most households but particularly on the most vulnerable people on low incomes, including pensioners and people with disabilities. This was the view expressed by local MP Tom Clarke who spoke during the Fuel Poverty Debate in the House of Commons, when he urged energy companies to be ‘honest’ with their pricing.
An ardent critic of energy companies the MP for Coatbridge Chryston & Bellshill said:
“Last year when wholesale prices had gone down the energy companies simply refused to pass the decreases on to consumers. Today, at the first hint of an increase in wholesale prices, the prices charged by some companies have gone up and based on their track record it is inevitable that other companies will follow exactly that line. Fuel price increases have done much harm to the Government’s fuel poverty targets. Increased gas and electricity prices can decimate household budgets, rising incomes and improved energy efficiency measures. All of which combine to increase the number of households living in fuel poverty.”
The MP continued:
“I welcome not just tax credits, pension credits and other benefits but the specific payments for heating, which last year amounted to well over £2 million in my own constituency. We genuinely accept our social responsibilities, but that does not mean that any Government should be seen subsidizing energy company’s profits. Therefore, perhaps it is time to extend Ofgem’s remit so that it can ensure that there is no improper profiteering. I could rest a little easier if I were convinced that within the energy market there was honest pricing by energy companies. Regarding the present increase in wholesale prices, which we are told is at the heart of our problems, how much of that increase impacts on the prices that have been imposed? I have it on good authority that some people believe that about 40% of energy company costs apply to fuel prices. If that is the case, I cannot see why there is an average 17% increase: Especially when it is thought energy companies aim for around 80% of their fuel being secured at lower prices by binding long term contracts.”
The MP concluded:
“I want to end on the very important issue of disabled children and their families. The organisation Every Disabled Child Matters consortium provided information on disabled children, which it obtained from a survey conducted by Contact a Family. The findings concluded that two thirds of families with disabled children struggle to pay their fuel bills each winter. One family of every 10 families with disabled children has had their gas and electricity supply cut off. Having disabled children and their families sitting in the dark and the cold with no hot water is entirely unacceptable. Indeed it is repugnant at this stage in the millennium”.