UK to hold summit over rising energy bills

Energy bills have risen dramatically in recent months as companies raise their prices because of rising wholesale costs, meaning an average dual fuel bill in Britain costs 1,345 pounds ($2,125) a year, according to the watchdog Ofgem.

The regulator also said companies were making 125 pounds per customer in profit, the highest level since at least 2004. Suppliers dispute those figures.

The summit comes as the coalition government faces pressure from angry consumers. Austerity measures to deal with a record budget deficit have led to public spending cuts, rising taxes and unemployment, and sub-inflation pay rises.

"Energy bills have increased by more than 100 pounds for most people since this summer," Cameron and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne wrote in an article for www.moneysavingexpert.com.

"These price rises couldn't come at a worse time for consumers who are already feeling the pinch from rising petrol prices and the cost of the weekly shop."

There was no indication the summit would produce new measures. Instead it will focus on how consumers could be made aware of savings they might make by switching to cheap deals or moving suppliers, and the free or heavily subsidised insulation available for vulnerable households.

"The government's warm words won't heat homes during a bitter winter," said Caroline Flint, the opposition Labour Party's energy spokesman.

"They're unable to take on vested interests, they won't tackle the spiralling prices imposed by the energy giants, they won't investigate the mis-selling of energy and they won't help the pensioners whose winter fuel payments have been cut"; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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