Icy UK on the way as energy prices rise

 

Unions in Britain have urged the government to tackle costly energy prices.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/14/266694/icy-uk-on-the-way-as-energy-prices-rise/

Unions in Britain have urged the government to tackle costly energy prices, after energy provider British Gas announced its rising gas and electricity bills by 6 percent in the coming month.

Unions demanded an emergency package of efficient energy measures to tackle the growing poverty for fuel in the UK, while many households are fighting to pay bills, keep their homes warm or struggle to eat.

Some 8.5 million households in the UK will face an expensive winter as they struggle to find a way through an extra £80 a year on their energy bills.

British Gas’s energy rival Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is already increasing its charges by an average of 9 percent on October 15, which is hitting five million electricity customers and 3.4 million gas customers across the UK.

Another energy firm called Npower followed the fashion of announcing its average rise of 8.8 percent for the gas bill and 9.1 percent for electricity consumers.

Unison national business secretary Mike Jeram warned, "It will be a long, cold winter for many pensioners, the unemployed, low paid workers and their families. This is a crisis in the making and the government needs to tackle fuel poverty head-on or we will see the number of deaths from cold rising over the winter."