Consumer group slams energy firms over pricing

By MoneyhighStreet Staff. Published on November 5, 2008 This post currently has no comments.

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UK householders are facing sharper utilities bill increases than those in other European nations, new figures reveal.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that gas and electricity prices have gone up by 30 per cent in the past 12 months in Britain, due to rises in wholesale costs.

More modest annual price rises of 14 per cent and 12.2 per cent have been marked in France and Germany, respectively.

Commenting on the figures, Ed Mayo, chief executive of watchdog Consumer Focus, said: "The UK energy consumer is being clobbered faster and harder than those in Europe.

"Other countries may be doing more to keep their prices down and we should learn from them. 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."

In July, crude oil prices hit an all-time high of $147 per barrel.

Since then, the commodity has slumped to below $60 - a fall that has not been reflected in customers'' bills.