Energy bills have more than doubled

A typical dual fuel gas and electricity bill was £610 a year in 2004.

That figure has now risen to £1,320 -- and more than £1,400 for many after the latest round of price increases, including Scottish Power today.

Of that the so-called green levies account for about £112.

So bills have doubled in less than a decade, even if you lop off the green levies.

The £112 is set to rise to £194 in 2020.

It includes £47 from the ECO -- the obligation on suppliers to insulate some people's homes and renew their boilers -- and £11 from the Warm Home Discount, a scheme to reduce bills for low income customers.

See this from DECC on page 78 for the breakdown of the green charges which David Cameron says he is going to roll back.

Cameron moving on energy

What David Cameron actually said at Prime Minister's Questions today on energy prices:

I do believe in intervening in the energy market that is why we are legislating to put customers on the lowest tariffs.

Bills in this country have reached an unacceptable level and we need to take action on that. We need to help people to pay their bills and we need to help people to get their bills down.

We need to roll back some of the green regulations and charges. There are the wholesale prices which are beyond our control, there are the costs of transmission and the grid, which are difficult to change, there are the profits of the energy companies and there are the green regulations.

And it is those last two that we need to get to grips with.

We will be having a proper competition test carried out over the next year to get to the bottom of whether this market can be more competitive. I want more companies, I want better regulation, I want better deals for consumers. But yes we also need to roll back the green charges.

We want a more competitive market. We need an annual audit of competition to make this market more competitive.

Npower strikes back

The chief executive of npower has taken a lot of stick for the fact that his company paid no, or virtually no, corporation tax for 3 years. That 2009, 2010 and 2011.

He was criticised by MPs, was in my piece on Radio 4 news last night and got a mauling in the papers.

So here's Paul Massara's defence.

Doorstep wolves should never have been unleashed

Here's a shocking case of door-to-door sales reps tricking and pressurising unsuspecting customers into switching gas and electricity suppliers.

They use false claims about prices, bribes and straightforward blarney to hoodwink people.

Some victims are switched without their knowledge, using information about relations who have died or details obtained from the electoral register to fill out supplier transfer forms.

Quite rightly the company is fined millions of pounds.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, says: “Mis-selling causes great confusion and distress for individuals, often those who are most vulnerable."

"It also damages customers’ confidence in switching suppliers which means that they may not be benefiting from consumer choice as they should."

Familiar? No this isn't SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy) in 2013. It is London Electricity, including Virgin Energy, in 2002.

How quickly we forget. It's as if energy companies only just started ripping off customers.

No one has any sympathy for SSE, punished by Ofgem yesterday for its nasty selling tactics.

But why was this still happening between 2009 and 2012, as Ofgem describes in horrendous detail?

Sadly, there is more to this long-running tale of mis-selling, exploitation and profiteering than the predatory methods of several companies.

You see, the scene was set by government reforms and regulators. They actually wanted those doorstep sellers to be on the streets, knocking on doors and ringing bells.

Gas was privatised in 1986, electricity in 1990. Then gas was opened up to competition in 1996 and electricity two years later.

The dogs of competition were unleashed. The authorities thought they would be sheepdogs, herding customers towards better prices.

In fact, they were wolves.

And because the received wisdom was that most customers would pay less if they switched supplier, not much was done.

They may have been wolves but they were doing God's work, so to speak.

It was a very damaging situation:

*It was wrong for people to be hoodwinked

*It was wrong for the industry to be allowed to get away with it for years

*People lost out. Once they'd saved money by switching the first time there was a real danger that the next time they would end up paying more.

Now, the main suppliers have pledged to stop selling on the doorstep when they haven't been asked to make a visit.

The fact is, they should never have been allowed to do it in the first place.

Energy price "concern"

A senior official from the energy regulator, Ofgem, has voiced concerns about government plans to make sure gas and electricity customers benefit from the lowest prices.

Andrew Wright, Ofgem's senior partner for markets, told MPs that "Not all consumers will be in positions where they will necessarily want to be moved onto the cheapest deal with their supplier."

The Prime Minister said on 17th October that he would legislate so that energy companies "have to give customers their lowest tariffs".

Suppliers were shocked by the remark, which implied that they could be forced to switch customers to their standard tariffs.

But later David Cameron clarified the policy saying that the coming Energy Bill would "ensure that customers get the lowest tariffs".

Today Mr Wright explained Ofgem's worries, saying: "It would be a concern if someone who was paying a modest premium for a green tariff, for example, was automatically switched onto the standard tariff."

He added: "Similarly the choice between fixed term and variable is one where a consumer may choose to pay a higher price in the short term in order to get the stability in the longer term."

He said he understood that the government was fully aware of the concerns and he expected any policy proposals which emerge would recognise that.

Andrew Wright to the Energy & Climate Change Committee:

"It would be a concern if someone who was paying a modest premium for a green tariff for example was automatically switched onto the standard tariff and similarly the choice between fixed term and variable is one where a consumer may choose to pay a higher price in the short term in order to get the stability in the longer term.

"Not all consumers will be in positions where they will necessarily want to be moved onto the cheapest deal with their supplier. My understanding is that the government is fully aware of that and I would expect any policy proposals which emerge would recognise that.

"One way in which that could be guarded against is providing customers with the opportunity of opting out of any automatic switch, that does give a safety valve."

Trouble keeping warm

Last autumn's sharp gas and electricity price rises pushed an extra 400,000 English households into fuel poverty, according to the Energy Department, DECC.


It says that "price rises in the latter part of 2011 lead to an increase of around 0.4m households", taking the total to 3.9m.


Since then we've seen a modest cut in prices earlier this year, but British Gas has indicated that prices will rise significantly again before the coming winter.


So the fuel poverty total is likely to rise once more.


Fuel poverty is defined as households which spend more than 10 per cent of their income keeping warm.

£280 on energy bills

The Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has revealed that the cost of policies to deal with climate change will add £280 to household energy bills by 2020.

The policies, including support for renewable energy, will add 27% to the price of electricity.

However, he said that energy efficiency measures, such as home insulation, would cut bills by more than that. So the overall effect would be a £94 reduction in bills, a drop of 7%.

The figures ignore any increase in the underlying price of gas and electricity, which will add significantly more to the cost of heat and power.

The government is introducing a Green Deal next year, enabling households to pay for insulation out of the future savings they achieve from having it installed.

Energy companies will have to provide £1.3 billion a year to ensure everyone is able to benefit from the Green Deal, no matter their income or the type of house they live in.

Help if the energy bill is a problem

Scottish & Southern is bringing in its prices rises from today. Eon's price hikes came in yesterday and npower's arrive on 1st October. Scottish Power and British Gas tariffs have already gone up.

The CCCS (Consumer Credit Counselling Service) says that a third of people with debt problems are also in fuel poverty - they're struggling to pay their bills.

If you're having trouble paying for gas and electricity, here are some places to go to for help:

Home Heat Helpline 0800 336699

CCCS Debt Remedy

My Money Steps

British Gas, Scottish Gas Trust

Other British Gas help
And check with your supplier for help, if it's another one.

Winter Fuel Payment

Cold Weather Payment