Press release
Gas dead-end hits E.ON profits and household fuel bills
14 March 2012
Commenting on Big Six energy giant E.on's financial results today, Friends of the Earth's Energy Campaigner Paul Steedman said:
"E.on bosses blame rising global gas prices for their slide in profits and increasing household fuel bills - yet they and the other big energy firms continue to keep the UK hooked on expensive imported gas.
"Gas is a costly, polluting dead end - to guarantee energy we can all afford we need to switch to clean British energy and slash energy waste.
"David Cameron must stop the energy rip-off and call a public inquiry into the power of the Big Six."
ENDS
Notes to editors
- 86% of people support an independent public inquiry into the big six energy companies, according to a YouGov survey carried out for Friends of the Earth and Compass on 16-18 February 2012. The poll also showed strong support for clean British energy - 70% of people want the Government to force the big energy companies to invest in power from the UK's wind, sun, waves and tides.
- New research from Friends of the Earth shows that energy firms including the Big Six are planning to build nearly double the number of gas-fired power stations the Government says the UK may need, in a move that energy experts predict will drive up household energy costs due to ever-increasing gas prices. See Friends of the Earth's analysis 'Enough is Enough: new gas-fired power station capacity in the UK' for more information.
- Friends of the Earth's new report 'Gas prices: is the only way up?' looks at global factors affecting gas prices now and in the future.
- Tens of thousands of people have joined Friends of the Earth's Final Demand Campaign, launched in October last year, which calls for energy we can all afford and a public inquiry into the power and influence of the Big Six energy companies.
- One in four households are in fuel poverty, according to Consumer Focus figures from December 2011.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Mar 2012
