Energy price rise sparks new political row over power bills
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Another member of the
energy companies cartel, announces price increases way above the
level of inflation, which will undoubtedly increase their already
obscene levels of profits at the expense of the consumer. This news
comes just weeks after a report in the “Guardian” warning
consumers that “Energy firms expected to increase prices by 8%”
and reported on this Blog on September 21st under the heading of “The
energy suppliers cartel prepare to announce big price increases,
again.” Even more evidence, if more were actually needed, that
these predominately, but not exclusively, foreign owned energy
companies, selling the wholesale energy product to themselves through
a myriad of murky subsidiaries and associated companies, (each making
substantial profits during the process), are out of control,
ungovernable and impervious to any form of criticism or suggestion.
The statement from SSE
that their prices will rise by 8.2% will not be welcome to around 7
million households in this country. Over the next few weeks, when the
remaining members of the cartel announce their price hikes, again
expected to be well above the rate of inflation, will be seen by many
more households as justification for government intervention to
control and limit the annual excesses of these extortionists.
The “market” for the
supply of energy is corrupt, partial and works only to the benefit of
increasing companies profit at the cost of consumers. The advice from
government, the energy “watchdog” and the company public
relations spin doctors is for the consumer to switch suppliers and
ensure that they are given the lowest possible tarrier from the
plethora of tariffs available. Lip service to a myth. The cartel
ensures that in general that as they collectively set the artificial
prices, their tariffs vary only marginally albeit masquerading under
various description or titles.
The latest intervention
from Ed Miliband and the Labour party, to freeze energy bills for 20
months following the 2015 election, provided that Labour secure a
majority to form a government, seems to be an attractive option, but
only tinkers at the margins of the problem. The real, long term
solution is to legislate to cap price rises to the level of inflation
or lower, as many working people have had to endure now for the last
5 years, and to couple this with the gradual incorporation of energy
companies into the public sector. Before someone somewhere trots out
the old cliché that the EU will not allow this under their restraint
of trade measures or some other nebulous piece of European nonsense,
the politicians should remember that they have been elected to
represent the people of this country, not some faceless collection of
bureaucrats lurking in the shadows of come corridor in Brussels.
The energy companies
cannot expect to be able to inflict price hikes, sometimes two or
three times each year, without some form of backlash or protest from
their long suffering customers. We know that they cheat and
manipulate figure to justify price rises. We know that their friends
in government will do nothing to control them. We know that they and
their foreign controlled wholesale companies will move heaven and
earth to resist change and to maintain their cartel monopolistic
position.
They should be made aware
that the good days (for them) are coming to an end and that the gravy
train is running into the buffers.
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