Big six suppliers dispute Ofgem wholesale data
A NEW energy row has erupted over data from industry regulator Ofgem, which claims that wholesale gas and electricity costs have been almost flat over the past year, rising by only 1.7 per cent.
Alongside government policies, the big six energy suppliers have attributed rising wholesale prices as a key driver for raising consumers’ bills.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told a lobby briefing yesterday that “it is for the energy companies to explain the decisions they have taken around bills to their customers”.
Energy firms have refuted the Ofgem data, with an SSE spokesman calling suggestions of flat wholesale costs “simply false”.
A spokesperson from British Gas-owner Centrica said that “Ofgem’s methodology is an approximation of suppliers’ actual hedging and buying positions”.
Four of the big six have recently unveiled price rises between 8.2 per cent and 10.4 per cent.
Meanwhile smaller supplier Co-op Energy, which raised its tariff by just 4.5 per cent, saw first-half sales soar by over 600 per cent.