Consumers set to pay for electricity network upgrade
Despite the fact that UK consumers have seen electricity bills in the UK rise significantly over the last few years, Ofgem, the energy regulator, has today revealed that electricity bills will rise by 5% every year until 2015. The move will raise around £6.5 billion which will be used to repair the UK electricity network which has been starved of investment in some areas. But is this really fair?
The fact is that UK consumers pay for their electricity and it is the UK electricity companies which have been publishing ever growing profits as a consequence of ever increasing prices. However, when push comes to shove and the UK electricity network needs repairing it is not the electricity companies which are hit in the pocket, it is the UK consumer. Surely now is the time for the government to step in and take action because UK taxpayers are set to see their payments increase enormously over the next decade to pay for issues which are very much out of their control.
In many ways it seems that the UK electricity sector has been privatised and sold off although when companies need money to upgrade networks it is always the consumer who pays the price.
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