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Energy profit margins up £110 per customer
Business digest: Ofgem to force companies to provide simple tariffs where energy unit charges are comparable
PROFIT margins at energy companies have increased from £15 per customer per year in June to £125, following significant price hikes by most of the major gas and electricity companies in the UK.
The figure is based on the assumption that energy prices and bills remain the same for the next year. Energy regulator Ofgem predicts that profits will fall back to £90 per customer sometime in 2012.
Ofgem is in the process of introducing plans to introduce simpler tariffs, which would see companies charge a base rate set by the regulator plus their own unit charge for energy used.
"When consumers face energy bills at around £1,345," said Ofgem's chief executive Alistair Buchanan, "they must have complete confidence that this price is set by companies competing in a fully competitive market. At the moment that is not the case."
Read a full report at BBC News. ·
