Bleak house: Families facing choosing between heating or eating

Daily Mail (Thursday17th July 2008); says; Gas bills are set to rise by 66 per cent to more than £1,000 a year, families have been warned.

Once the cost of electricity is added to the mix, homeowners could be paying more than £1,600 a year for heat and light. An increase on such a scale, which could happen within two years, would have devastating consequences for ordinary people and the wider economy.

The alarm was sounded by analysts Eclipse Energy in a study commissioned by the power giant Centrica, parent company of British Gas. It blames the fact that the price of gas is tied to oil, which has spiralled to more than 140 dollars a barrel.

It says this link will take household energy bills to levels that will force millions to choose between heating and eating.

But consumer groups argue that there is no good market reason for the link, other than ensuring multi-billion windfalls for companies such as B.P., Texaco and Shell, as well as countries like Russia.

Energywatch, which represents the interests of consumers, has described the link as 'toxic' and says that if the price of gas was decided by supply and demand, it would be more than a third lower.

There will also be suspicions that the power industry has released the Eclipse report as part of a campaign to justify a new round of price rises which is due to be announced within weeks.


Comment: Welcome UK to New Zealand style living, where we found it commonplace to have to choose between eating and keeping warm!!!