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8 January 2007 - The leader of the UK's Conservative Party has called on competition authorities to investigate whether utility companies are charging their gas customers unfairly.
David Cameron wants the UK's Office of Fair Trading to lead a study into the notoriously murky UK gas market to determine whether recent price hikes are warranted. According to figures published by Mr Cameron's office, UK gas prices have risen by 71 per cent since 1997.
While Mr Cameron accepted there is no evidence wholesale prices are rising at present, he points to the fact that four gas companies (all part of Scottish and Southern Electricity) put prices up on January 1. "It's not clear that people are being charged a fair price for energy today and we're calling on the competition authorities to investigate the utility companies to make sure people are getting a fair deal," said Mr Cameron.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, published figures in the autumn showing that while wholesale gas and electricity price had risen by 167 per cent, the average retail "dual fuel" price had risen just 52 per cent. Gas and electricity suppliers say that squeeze on margins means they have been making little or no profit on their retail businesses.
The Energy Retail Association, which represents gas and electricity suppliers, said it was surprised by Mr Cameron's comments. It said: "We met with senior figures from the Conservative party just a few weeks ago and they raised no such concerns. We have the most competitive and liberalised energy market in Europe, and it is worth noting that the findings of the European Commission's inquiry into the market will be released on Wednesday."
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