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Are energy giants playing it straight? Inquiry ordered
Business Digest: Ofgem to check whether companies are lining their pockets with recent price hike
UK energy companies are to be investigated by industry watchdog Ofgem to establish whether they have been "playing it straight with consumers". The inquiry follows the discovery by Ofgem that industry profit margins have jumped by almost 40 per cent.
Three of the 'big six' energy suppliers - British Gas, Scottish & Southern and Scottish Power - have announced price rises in recent weeks, blaming a 25 per cent rise in wholesale energy prices. But Ofgem calculates that net profit margins have gone up by 38 per cent.
"We must make sure that companies don't put some extra silver in their pockets at a time when we are very concerned about our bills and how we are going to pay for our bills," Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem's chief executive, told the BBC.
The "fast track" Ofgem inquiry will be completed by March. Householders should not get their hopes up too much: a similar investigation in October
2008 found no evidence of anti-competitive behaviour .
Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph.
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