A report in yesterday’s edition of the Sunday Telegraph has claimed that UK households face the highest energy bills in Europe.
However, it is a claim which Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has been quick to dismiss as “nonsense”. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Huhne criticised the calculations contained in the Sunday Telegraph report that made the claims.
The newspaper suggested energy providers are to get a higher-than-normal fixed price under government incentives for electricity generated from nuclear power and wind farms, increasing the cost to ordinary Britons. The report went on to suggest that these incentives will mean electricity bills will rise by 30% over the next 20 years.
But the Energy Secretary described the article’s analysis as “rubbish”, and said it did not take into account the eventual savings these different energy sources would bring.
“We are not going to have the highest prices in Europe. That’s absolute nonsense,” said Mr Huhne.
“The reality is that we have some of the lowest energy prices and we can get them even lower,” he added.
In light of British Gas increasing its gas and electricity prices by 18% and 16% respectively, Mr Huhne went on to stress that the Government is taking steps to encourage competition in the market place, and he urged consumers to go on price comparison websites to see how much they could save.
