Will we see an investigation into energy prices?
Over the last 24 hours there have been further calls for an investigation into UK energy prices with British Gas, part of the Centrica group, reporting record profits yesterday. This comes at a time when UK consumers and UK businesses are struggling to cover their energy bills which have grown significantly over the last 12 months. However, is the sector regulator willing to take on the big players?
Time and time again we have heard rumours of investigations into the energy market although to date very little action has actually been taken. The official line is that there is more than enough competition in the sector to ensure that prices remain competitive at all times, but you try telling this to the average consumer and the average business user in the UK!
Quite why the regulator seems unwilling or unable to take on the major players in the energy sector is something of a mystery as we see short-term wholesale energy price increases pushed through almost immediately while price reductions seem to take an eternity to filter through.
There is also the matter of investment into the UK energy sector which would appear to have been sadly lacking over the last decade as energy companies looked to gear up their profitability in the short term. It is common knowledge that the UK energy market will struggle with capacity issues in the longer term unless we see significant investment in the short to medium term.
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