Rap for energy firms won’t stop the rising prices

As the cold weather hits, the question of soaring bills will be felt by each of us at home

According to the research, only one in five customers trusts their energy company (Getty Images)

The energy regulator said yesterday that falling wholesale energy prices meant the Big Six were now in a position to cut gas and electricity bills.

The latest figures from Ofgem reckon the firms will make £102 profit per household over the coming year compared with just £48 in 2013.

“In a situation where we have got wholesale costs coming down, you would be expecting some of the companies at the very least to be saying, ‘Here is an opportunity to gain market share by reducing our prices’,” said Rachel Fletcher, of Ofgem’s markets division.

“We haven’t seen that,” she added. “That raises questions for us about the extent to which there really is competition between the large energy companies.”

It should raise questions for us all. Many people believe the big companies don’t give a stuff for their customers, only for their profits. That belief is given oxygen by the big firms’ continued pathetic customer service, with Npower in particular being guilty of letting customers down over and over again.

As the cold weather hits, the question of soaring bills will be felt by each of us at home. For the most vulnerable it could lead, once again, to the ultimate disaster of being forced to choose whether to heat or eat.

The net result of that for many at-risk older people could be fatal, and they will end up as a statistics being included on the shaming annual list, to be published by the Government next year, of thousands of unnecessary extra winter deaths.

But here’s the key: energy bills are set to be a major issue in next year’s general election. Ed Miliband has already pledged that Labour would freeze bills if elected to power. The other parties have their own plans. Now is the time to start the campaign to fight for an end to fuel poverty and to ensure there are no more unnecessary winter deaths.