The UK Prime Minister David Cameron encouraged British Gas customers to change their energy supplier over newly announced price rises.
The comments in a round of local radio interviews with BBC Radio Sussex fall in line with similar suggestion by the Energy Secretary Ed Davey earlier today.
“I think it is a very disappointing announcement by British Gas,” Cameron said.
“I would encourage customers who are not happy with the service they’re getting, are not happy with the prices, to go to the switching sites online and see whether they can get a better deal.”
Minutes after British Gas confirmed it was increasing its rates by 10.4% on electricity prices and 8.4% for gas tariffs from next month, shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint demanded to know what the Government would do about it.
Flint had used the announcement to renew her challenge to the Government on energy prices.
“This is the company that, with Centrica, has passed on the highest share of its profits to its shareholders while at the same time making the least amount of investments into what we need to ensure our energy security in the future,” she said during the regular Commons questions to the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
“Two years ago the accountancy firm BDO warned the big six energy companies could be under reporting their profits and they recommended tighter rules. But the Government and Ofgem failed to act.
“We back the new rules and so did a recent select committee report but, in their response, all the Government could say was ’Government is not in a position to comment’.
“Why won’t you stand up for consumers, support Labour’s price freeze and make the energy companies tell us exactly how much money they are earning?”
“British Gas was the only company not to meet its targets under the previous obligation to make its customers’ homes more energy efficient. That left more homes cold and their customers paying over the odds,” said the Energy Secretary.
“British Gas has form in failing to meet its targets, the last ones set by Labour. I hope you can join with me in making sure British Gas is more transparent about its costs.
“We are pushing competition and I would urge customers of British Gas who are unhappy to change their supplier.”
“But we are also making sure the energy companies are more transparent and I would urge British Gas to publish and be more transparent about the increased policy costs it is blaming for these bill rises.
“We have looked at their initial figures and we really question whether their policy costs, which they claim are putting up the bill, are the root cause.”
Pressed during the radio interview on whether the Government could do more to tackle the underlying issues the Prime Minister said: “What we can do, which is what we are doing, is to try to get new suppliers into the market.”
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