Rising costs to send energy bills up 70%
Gas prices are set to soar by 70 per cent, pushing annual bills over the £1,000 barrier, a report warns.
People have been told they may need to wear “two jumpers instead of one” as gas prices rocket over the next few years.[>
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The number of people in fuel poverty is also set to dramatically increase, raising fears for the welfare of elderly people.[>
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Speaking last night, Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy, which owns British Gas, warned: “It is going to hit people hard.”[>
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The major new report by independent energy advisers Eclipse Energy Group, commissioned by Centrica, predicted a dramatic change in energy prices by 2010.[>
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It noted that falling UK gas production would result in significant Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports, adding a global component to energy prices.[>
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It also warned that the link between UK gas prices and the globally-traded oil market was increasing.[>
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It warned that if the present oil price of more than $140 a barrel was maintained it could lead to domestic gas bills of more than £1,000 within the next few years.[>
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John King, managing partner of Eclipse, said: “With the UK increasingly reliant on imported gas by pipeline and LNG, the international oil price will, in the near future, be the main price[>
driver behind our energy supplies, with an impact likely across consumers, businesses and the economy generally.”[>
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The current average gas bill is around £600. A leap to more than £1,000 would be an increase of almost 70 per cent. [>
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Mr Ulrich said: “We will see people change their behaviour. People will use less energy [>
and I hate to go back to the Jimmy Carter days in the US, but maybe it’s two jumpers instead [>
of one.”[>
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He added: “I don’t think we can rely on UK production or cheap gas, cheap energy of any sort any more. It’s a reality not only in the UK but in Western Europe and North America. Energy is going to become relatively much more expensive in the future.”[>
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Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, said: “This expert analysis leaves no doubt about the energy crunch we are facing and the real impact this will have on consumers, businesses and the economy, with prices increasingly set by global factors outside the UK’s control.”[>
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A spokesman for Help the Aged urged the Government to develop a fuel poverty strategy. He said: “A rise of one per cent in gas prices sees another 100,000 pensioners fall into fuel poverty.”[>
