Npower incurs consumer watchdog’s wrath

Energywatch has slammed European energy companies for “treating Great Britain like a treasure island” after npower revealed plans to hike its prices by 15%. The German-owned company will reveal the full extent of the rise later today (January 4) and its rivals are expected to follow suit.

Adam Scorer, director of campaigns at the consumer watchdog, says the companies buy UK gas cheaply and sell it back at inflated prices. He adds: “It’s a wholesale market that punishes British consumers.”

Scorer says that “no one will thank” npower, which is Britain’s second-largest energy company, for the hike early and that it paints a “pretty bleak picture for 2008”.

He adds that families on lower incomes that suffer the most. “Those families who really struggle to make ends meet start to make some invidious choices about whether to spend their scarce resources on warm homes, food or clothing.”