- Cymraeg
- English
 |
Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
 |
AM angered by news of further fuel price rises
January 18, 2008 12:00 AM
The Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Social Justice, Peter Black, has expressed his concern at the news that British Gas will be joining those companies who have already announced large price hikes in gas and electricity prices.
He believes that this will add to the fuel poverty already experienced by many families in Wales. British Gas has announced that prices of both gas and electricity will be rising by 15%. This makes British Gas the third major provider to raise its prices this year, following in the steps of NPower, who raised electricity prices by 12.7% and gas by 17.2% earlier this month and EDF Energy, who raised their electricity prices by 7.9% and gas prices by 12.9% this week. It is estimated that 240,000 welsh households currently live in fuel poverty, with the average annual fuel bill of a Welsh household being £1000 per year.
"I find it simply astonishing that energy companies think that the most reasonable thing to do in this situation is pass all of their increased costs onto the customer," said Mr. Black. Companies must be willing to bear some of the burden when the going gets tough and at least work to minimise the effect of such price rises on their customers. I appreciate that British Gas has announced that they will take steps to help the most vulnerable, it still leaves many thousands of households severely out of pocket."
"This gives further backing to my calls for the government to intervene to stop energy companies from being able to announce such massive price hikes. Why do they not take steps to phase in price increases over time? Why will they not allow their shareholders to bear some of the burden? It is always those most in need who lose out when prices rise. The government must regulate to control price increases."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats