Slash fuel bills, demands Brown

Published:
20 October 2008
Topic:
News,Gas & Electricity

Falling gas and oil prices have prompted Prime Minister Gordon Brown to demand that energy companies slash fuel bills.

He has called on suppliers to pass on savings after his earlier insistence that falling prices should also be reflected at the petrol pumps to ease pressure on motorists.

He wrote in The People newspaper: "We will demand that energy companies pass on these cuts to their customers as price reductions as soon as possible."

Suppliers have been under pressure to cut prices as the cost of oil has fallen to less than half its $147-a-barrel high in July.

This has cut wholesale gas prices by 20%, leaving energy providers open to accusations that they have been over-charging millions of customers who pay estimated energy bills, a consumer watchdog has said.

Consumer-rights organisation Consumer First said that the one in three households that pay estimated bills could be charged the price their energy is worth at the end of the billing period.

Speaking to the BBC, Robert Hammond, of Consumer Focus, said: "Consumers could be paying higher prices for gas or electricity used in the past, which for companies makes a very nice windfall."

Copyright © PA Business 2008

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