British Gas one of the Big Six[getty]Ofgem has now given the go-ahead for the Competition and Markets Authority to conduct an detailed inquiry into the industry.
It follows the regulator’s proposal in March to put the Big Six suppliers under the microscope amid concerns over soaring prices.
A recent report by Ofgem, the Office of Fair Trading and the CMA, claimed effective competition “isn’t working as well as it should”.
Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan last night said: “Now is the right time to refer the energy market to the CMA for the benefit of consumers.
People’s trust in energy firms is at rock bottom
“There is near-unanimous support for a referral and the CMA investigation offers an important opportunity to clear the air. This will help rebuild consumer trust and confidence in the energy market as well as provide the certainty investors have called for. A CMA investigation should ensure there are no barriers to stop effective competition bearing down on prices and delivering the benefits of these changes to consumers.” The investigation will start immediately with final decisions likely to be published by the end of 2015.
It will scrutinise the Big Six suppliers - British Gas, EDF Energy, SSE, Scottish Power, npower, and eon – particularly around profitability and price hikes.
Last night Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “This is a watershed moment for the broken energy market and millions of people struggling to cope with spiralling bills. The investigation must leave no stone unturned in establishing the truth behind energy prices.”
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: “People’s trust in energy firms is at rock bottom.
“This investigation is long overdue and needs to lift the floorboards on the energy market and take a long, hard look at why it fails consumers.”
No comments:
Post a Comment