Energy companies welcome Cameron’s green tax reviews

Surprise, surprise – energy companies have welcomed David Cameron’s announcement that he will review green taxes on energy.

The Big Six energy companies have also welcomed the PM’s promise he will launch an annual review of competition in the energy market.

An SEE spokesperson said that “a balanced audit of competition in the market should be a useful additional step towards building customers’ trust”.

SSE announced energy price rises of 8.2% a fortnight ago.

RWE npower CEO Paul Massara said: “We fully support both the call to review the amount that green taxes are adding to customers’ bills and the annual review by Ofgem and the competition authorities into pricing and competition.”

npower raised energy prices by 10.4% earlier this week.

Massara added: “For a long time, we have been calling for a fact-based discussion on the real cost of energy.

“Energy suppliers like npower only control 16% of the total cost of a typical household energy bill – 23% is controlled by network monopolies, and 15% comes from government interventions.

“A good next step would be for these portions to receive equal scrutiny.”

The government’s energy department said that Ofgem will lead the energy review “in conjunction with OFT and drawing on the expertise of the new Competition and Markets Authority when it comes into existence”.