Gas and Electricity companies are rumoured to be raising prices by 40% in the next few months, despite already raising them by 15% this year. They are expected to face tough questioning in front of a Parliamentary Committee this week to find out why.
The defence that the bosses of Britain's main energy suppliers plan to use is that the price rises are out of their control and they are expected to blame the hikes on the dramatic increase in cost of crude oil and natural gas.
In 2007 the average household paid £924 for gas and electricity but according to independent gas and electricity watchdog, Energywatch, consumers could now see their energy bills rising to over £1000 per year.
The price of crude oil has doubled since the end of last year and wholesale gas and electricity prices have gone up since the start of this year alone by 82% and 64%. This cost unfortunately gets passed onto the consumer and one energy expert estimates that Britain's major energy suppliers would need to raise prices by between 30-40 per cent this year to maintain their profits.
Despite all this, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) issued a statement earlier this year saying that the UK has the most competitive energy market in the EU and G7.
A few of the Chief Executives expected to face the Committee of MPs, which is expected to address a range of issues as well as this, are from major British energy companies such as Centrica, Scottish Power, Scottish & Southern Energy, Welsh Power, E.On, EdF Energy and RWE npower.
