Energy companies could be forced to cut their bills by the end of the year if Labour wins the General Election in May.
\n Labour leader Ed Miliband is expected to announce later that one of his first acts in government would be to push through a Bill giving energy regulator Ofgem more powers to force the so-called Big Six energy firms to reduce prices as well as freeze them.
\n He will say the measure is necessary as the Big Six – EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 – news) , npower, E.ON, British Gas, Scottish Power and SSE – have failed to pass on falls in wholesale energy prices to the consumer.<\/p>\n
\n It is estimated gas and electricity bills could be cut by up to 10% this year, saving the average family around \u00a3100.
\n The values of FTSE 100-listed SSE (LSE: SSE.L – news) and Centrica (LSE: CNA.L – news) , which owns British Gas, fell in early trading on Friday after the policy was confirmed.<\/p>\n
\n Ahead of his party’s spring conference in Birmingham, Mr Miliband will say: "The costs of energy are tumbling down, not because of anything the Government or the Big Six energy firms have done, but because of global changes in oil and gas supply.
\n "The cost of energy to the Big Six firms fell by 20%, but the sky-high prices that families pay have only fallen by a fraction of that.<\/p>\n
\n "Gas bills have declined by between 1% and 5%. Electricity bills haven’t fallen at all. "What better evidence do we need of the chronic over-charging, the broken market and the rip-offs being faced by millions of families and businesses across Britain?<\/p>\n
\n "We will pass a law to ensure falling costs are passed on to the consumer this winter; a law giving the regulator a legal duty to ensure fair prices this winter; a law giving the regulator the power to cut prices and keep homes warmer this winter."
\n Mr Miliband originally promised a 20-month price freeze in his speech to the Labour Party conference in 2013 at a time of rising prices.<\/p>\n
\n Energy Minister Matthew Hancock dismissed the plan, saying that if Labour had stuck by their original announcement of a price freeze, charges for the consumer would be even higher.
\n "This is now the sixth version of a chaotic Labour energy policy that would have put up families’ bills by \u00a3100 and could do the same again – their record at setting prices has been a disaster," he said.<\/p>\n
\n "This incompetence is exactly why Ed Miliband isn’t up to the job. "With the cheapest tariff now more than \u00a3100 less than when Ed Miliband was calling for a price freeze, it would have meant people worse off. "Now (NYSE: DNOW – news) it’s the main barrier to bills falling further."<\/p>\n
\n Source: www.news.sky.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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