EDF has come under fire from Birmingham Friends of the Earth for stitching up customers as they announced a leap in profits despite falling sales.
The local campaigning group is taking part in Friends of the Earth’s Final Demand campaign to stop the Big Six energy companies, of which EDF is one, stitching people up and ripping them off through sky-high energy bills while pocketing billions in profits.
Tomorrow they are meeting Northfield MP Richard Burden to support their calls for a full public inquiry into the Big Six’s influence.
Friends of the Earth believes our energy bills are rocketing because the Big Six are keeping us hooked on expensive fossil fuels.
The green campaign group is behind a recent report – The Dirty Half-Dozen – which shows that households in the UK could face extra costs of around £300 per year as the bill for using fossil fuels to generate electricity spirals ever higher.
The report shows that if the Big Six energy companies – also including household names like British Gas and E.ON – forge ahead with plans to build new fossil fuel power plants and abandon aspirations for new renewable energy, the nation faces an annual bill of £8 billion to £13 billion extra for our coal and gas by 2020 – with producers likely to pass the cost on to hard-pressed consumers and businesses.
The group’s ‘Final Demand’ campaign is calling on the Government to break the domination of the Big Six energy companies and is asking everyone to sign its petition to David Cameron to call a public inquiry into their behaviour, which is contributing to rocketing fuel prices for consumers and doing nothing to tackle pollution.
Robert Pass, lead campaigner on Energy and Climate Change at Birmingham Friends of the Earth said:
“People in Birmingham are hopping mad that the energy companies are raking in massive profits whilst more and more of us are struggling to pay our bills.
“The Government must urgently launch a public inquiry into the behaviour of the Big Six energy companies and get us off the addiction of fossil fuels for good – a move which would be good for consumers and for the plane.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. A full summary of the calculations used to arrive at the figure quoted in the report can be provided on request. Friends of the Earth has arrived at the figure of £308 per household by calculating the quantity and cost of all gas and coal used for generating electricity in 2020 compared to a 2010 baseline:
- Based on the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)’s projections for the fuel mix for generating electricity in 2020, and a range of price predictions for the cost of gas.
- Assuming a significant number of coal and nuclear power stations will close between now and 2020, as Government and industry thinks is likely;
- Assuming that we do not build any more renewables, but instead fill the gap by increasing our use of gas; if the UK abandons aspirations for new renewable energy.
2. The Citizens Advice Bureau in Birmingham supports the Final Demand Campaign and can provide local examples of people in Fuel Poverty suffering at the hands of the Big Six.
3. A full copy of Friends of the Earth’s Dirty Half Dozen report can be found here www.foe.co.uk/resource/
4. Birmingham Friends of the Earth campaigns on many environmental issues on a local, national and international level. They hold regular campaigns meetings on Monday evenings at 7.30pm: http://www.birminghamfoe.org.
5. Friends of the Earth believes the environment is for everyone. We want a healthy planet and a good quality of life for all those who live on it. We inspire people to act together for a thriving environment. More than 90 per cent of our income comes from individuals so we rely on donations to continue our vital work. For further information visit www.foe.co.uk.
