Co-op Energy ups pressure over green tax
INDEPENDENT energy provider Co-operative Energy put further pressure on the government yesterday by reducing its planned price increase, on the expectation that green levies will be removed from customers’ bills.
Last month the firm announced a 4.5 per cent increase to customers’ energy bills, which it has now cut to 2.5 per cent.
The government has faced mounting pressure from energy firms to shift costs from green policies away from bills and into general taxation. Prime Minister David Cameron recently pledged to “roll back” green levies, with an announcement expected in December’s Autumn Statement.
Ramsay Dunning, group general manager at Co-operative Energy, called the price cut a “leap of faith” and warned that it may have to raise bills again if the green levies were not removed.
“If ultimately we have misread the signals and social taxes remain in place for next year we will have no alternative but to review this decision,” he said.
Co-operative Energy supplies energy to more than 150,000 customers across the UK.