A REDUCTION in energy prices will still leave households struggling to pay their bills while companies pocket billions in profits, unions and campaigners warned today.
Energy regulator Ofgem is to lower the cap on energy bills by 12.5 per cent in April, with average annual bills expected to fall by £238 as a result.
But Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said working people would still be “paying through the nose while the energy profiteers laugh all the way to the bank.”
She called for the energy industry to be taken back into public ownership – a pledge Labour had made, but dropped last year.
“Everyone except the energy barons can see the system is broken,” she said.
“The need for public ownership has never been more pressing. It is time our politicians made the right choices.”
National disability charity Sense said the reduction would bring little relief to disabled households.
Sense chief executive Richard Kramer said: “Rising costs have pushed over half of disabled households into debt.
“Energy costs remain significantly higher than they were before the pandemic, yet disabled people are still waiting for long-term financial support.”
Environment campaign group Greenpeace said wildly fluctuating energy prices were evidence of the need to move away from fossil fuels.
The group’s UK climate campaigner Georgia Whitaker said: “Instead of speeding up the shift towards a fully renewable energy system – which would bring consistently lower bills, more energy security and massively help tackle climate change – our government is doubling down on oil and gas by attempting to make its extraction a legal requirement.
“It’s like trying to put out a fire by dousing it with petrol.”
End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis highlighted that prices remain 60 per cent higher than they were before the energy bills crisis began.
He said: “Three years of staggering energy bills have placed an unbearable strain on household finances up and down the country.
“Household energy debt is at record levels, millions of people are living in cold damp homes and children are suffering in mouldy conditions.”
Labour shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “Whilst it is welcome the price cap is coming down, the truth is that energy bills are still far too high for hard-working families.”
