Energy chiefs urge government to step in to cool cost of living crisis
Energy chiefs have called on the government to step in and ease the cost of living crisis looming over British households.
The chief executive of Octopus Energy told Times Radio that unless the government intervened in the market, soaring gas prices will hit consumers hard.
Greg Jackson said: “Unless action is taken, we will start to see those very, very high increases come through to the consumer market.”
“The next price cap announcement is in February. And so there’s still time between now and then for us to find ways to say, this is a one-in-30-years event, why not spread the cost over a number of years rather than try and take it all in one go? It might need the government to help ensure there is a mechanism in place,” Jackson added.
The calls have been echoed by a group of 20 Tory MPs who wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Saturday calling on the pair to cut VAT and remove green levies on energy bills.
The group of Conservative policymakers, which include Steve Baker MP and Esther McVey MP, said the government was “almost uniquely” putting upward pressure on energy prices, causing them to “increase faster than any other competitive country” through “taxation and environmental levies”.
Brits are bracing for a tough year of soaring prices and swelling bills that are set to squeeze their living standards.
The economic think tank the Resolution Foundation estimates the average household will see their bills jump £1,200 this year.
Inflation is expected to scale to six per cent this spring, driven higher by Ofgem, the energy regulator, lifting the price cap on energy bills in April.
However, price rises are already spiking households. Inflation breached the five per cent mark in November, hitting its highest level in over a decade.
This red hot inflation print prompted the Bank of England to lift interest rates for the first time in over three years, hiking them 15 basis points from a record low 0.1 per cent.