A leading energy firm has thrown its weight behind proposals to freeze bills this winter as the price cap looks set to soar this week.
Octopus Energy, Ecotricity and Utilita are supporting the tariff deficit fund, which could see the price cap frozen at roughly its current level, Birmingham Live reports. Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, has compared beer to gas prices, stating that if the price had risen at the same rate as energy, a pint could cost £25.
Mr Jackson, who is calling for Government intervention ahead of further price cap rises, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the spate of failures within the 29 companies that went bust last year, that was driven by gas prices roughly doubling. They're currently nine to 11 times higher than usual."
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He called for the government to double its financial support or freeze the amount suppliers can charge for energy. He added: "Look, to put that in perspective, if this was beer, we're talking about the wholesale price being £25 a pint. People don't know what a therm is, but, underneath it, the price per therm has gone from 60p to around £5 at the moment and that's what's passing through to customers if we don't do something."
He added: "There are systemic issues. There are loads of questions of how we pay for this. One thing we can't do is be expected to pass those costs on to consumers."
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