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The Consumer Council believes that today’s unprecedented increases in electricity and gas prices – the second this year – will strike fear and distress into many consumers already anxious about their ability to make ends meet in the face of spiralling costs this winter.
The Council called for the scale of the NIE Energy price increase to be re-examined in order to ensure that consumers receive a full and satisfactory explanation and justification as to why NIE Energy's level of increase is almost double that in the rest of the UK.
The Consumer Council is looking to the Northern Ireland Executive to establish an emergency winter fund to help struggling households cope with the rising cost of keeping warm and well this winter.
Eleanor Gill, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council said:
These price rises are truly shocking for consumers and people will struggle to cope. The Consumer Council accepts that our electricity and gas bills have to go up to cover the rising costs of wholesale energy. Having considered all the information provided to us, we accept that Phoenix's level of increase bears scrutiny and is broadly in line with the rest of the UK.
"However NIE Energy's scale of increase is not and it needs urgent and further explanation - in just 10 months their rate of increase has almost doubled compared to the rest of the UK even though we are told that global energy prices are behind these rises. The Consumer Council cannot accept an increase of this scale until this fundamental question is fully answered. In the absence of competition consumers need to be fully satisfied that the regulatory system works in their best interests now and in the future as we face into an era of higher energy prices and rising cost of living."
Turning to the devastating impact of the increases, Eleanor Gill continued:
"The spectre of financial hardship hanging over many people is real and immediate. Put simply, people can't find extra money they don't have to keep the lights and the heat on in their homes. We believe that today's increases will make the vulnerable even more vulnerable and could tip the tens of thousands of others who are just about coping over the edge. We know that in 2006 one in three homes were deemed to be in fuel poverty - it is frightening to think how many more households will be plunged into fuel poverty as a result of these increases."
For information on energy efficiency contact the Energy Savings Trust on 0800 512 012.
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