Special energy prices for the poor proposed

Charity organisations have proposed that energy companies should hand out to retirees fifty sterling pounds in rebate on their electricity and gas bills this winter season as a way of assisting the fuel poor.

This comes a week after reports indicated the energy bills could increase by up to forty per cent before the end of the year and this has prodded Help the Aged and Age Concern and Help the Aged to call on the energy companies to do more to assist their most helpless customers.

The charity organisations pointed out that though energy companies had promised to allocate an additional fifty million sterling for social assistance causes in 2008, no announcements had been made as yet on how those funds would be used.

The charity organisations said that the six energy giants which include Npower, E.ON, EDF, British Gas, and Scottish Power, Scottish & Southern should finance a fuel voucher scheme for those among their customers who are more than seventy years old. They would then be able to get an additional fifty sterling pounds on top of the usual fuel allowance for winter.

The plea by the charity organisations was received just as nine energy companies were getting ready to make an appearance before members of parliament in the select committee of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The nine energy firms are expected to give an explanation concerning the soaring energy prices. The energy companies have claimed that the sharp rises at the retail level are due to rising wholes prices.

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