24th Mar 2014 07:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Two major consumer groups are calling for regulators to further investigate the UK's "broken" energy market, according to the BBC on Monday.
Both Which? and the Federation of Small Businesses have said that nine out of 10 consumers think the firms need further probing.
The consumer groups have written a joint letter to the Office of Fair Trading, energy regulator Ofgem and the new Competition and Markets Authority.
The news comes as the big six energy suppliers in the UK are already awaiting notice of whether they will face a full competition enquiry after the three leading regulators spent the last three months reviewing the market, with the conclusions being reported within days.
Which? and the Federation of Small Businesses both said that rising energy bills are a "major concern" for small businesses in a research study, with only one in five of those surveyed saying they trust their energy companies.
"For too long the lack of competition in the energy market has not been addressed. It is now time for radical changes that deliver an effective, competitive market that works for everyone, before the scale of this crisis worsens," the research letter said.
The Big Six energy firms are Centrica PLC owned British Gas, E.ON, EDF, Npower, ScottishPower and SSE PLC.
Energy prices are turning into a political football ahead of the next election. Stagnant household budgets are set to become one of the main features of party campaigns as wage growth remains low while expenses such as energy prices increase at rates well above inflation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26704915
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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