Express Mortgages Express Loans Bingo Lose Weight Franchising Dating Shopping Book Shop Find Spare Parts Cut Your Bills Wine Shop Legal Store FlatShare Cruises

HAVE YOUR SAY

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM 'RIPS OF UK FAMILIES'.

Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy

Friday August 8,2008

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(51)

A FRENCH energy firm was accused yesterday of picking the pockets of British families.

The row followed the announcement of a French government plan to cap bill increases there at just 2 per cent for electricity and 5 per cent for gas.

The decision sparked a furious response from critics in the UK who claim Britons will be subsidising lower energy prices across the Channel.

While their French neighbours are protected by energy price caps households in the UK are suffering by record increases.

The French-controlled firm EDF Energy last month pushed up UK prices by 22 per cent for gas and 17 per cent for electricity for its 4.5 million customers.

That followed its January increases of 7.9 per cent for electricity and 12.9 per cent for gas.

It blamed soaring wholesale costs for the increases which add hundreds of pounds to customers’ annual bills.
Meanwhile its state-controlled parent company EDF (Electricite de France) is now preparing minimal price rises for French customers.

Liberal Democrat energy spokesman Steve Webb said: “You have the incredibly hands-on French government dramatically capping bills and the British Government fiddling around the edges.”

Mr Webb warned that families here could lose out because of the price curbs in France.

“You can’t avoid the suspicion that if part of the group is losing profits through a French price cap, that money will be made up from somewhere else.

“There is a risk that British EDF customers will end up subsidising their French counterparts,” he said.

Ed Mayo, chief executive of new watchdog Consumer Focus, said UK households were forced to pay extra because of the way European gas and electricity markets work.

“Closed and protectionist European energy markets end up picking the pockets of consumers up and down this country. It pushes up the cost, there is no doubt about it,” he said.

**Why should UK Energy users foot the bill for the French?**

**Do you think EDF are ripping Britain off?**

ENERGY RIP OFF!!

24.08.08, 4:15am

Can somebody please tell me why all we are doing is complaining?.....Brits are being ripped off to cover the french energy market, the spanish are in contol of aviation, almost all the counrties in europe have a piece of britain.....and who is footing the bill.....the british taxpayer!
Where has the great country gone who produced great cars, had their own oil rigs etc etc....we were once the envy of the world now we are just a joke. We are being ripped apart piece by piece by different countries and whats worse we have a foreigner leading our country....right.down the swanny!!!!!

• Posted by: cocklesandeels • Report Comment

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM 'RIPS OF UK FAMILIES'.

22.08.08, 5:37pm

The headline may be correct but I have recently changed from EDF to a UK based supplier and am now facing 16% plus increases in electricity prices(I don't have a gas supply where I live) so nobody is imune. Our oil and gas from the North Sea has been sold to the highest bidder and now we are all stuffed. Long live privatisation and the free market!

• Posted by: ricardo • Report Comment

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM RIPS OF UK FAMILIES

19.08.08, 6:33pm

just like every other ex national owned company- water - gas - electricity - rail. unless we go back to state owned utilities then this will continue forever. i we stopped paying out lawyers defending failed asylum seekers/foreign criminals we could buy back a utility yearly

• Posted by: ledzep • Report Comment

AND NOW....

17.08.08, 10:14am

.....BAA are to sell our Airports to the Spanish !!!! Don't we ever learn???

• Posted by: Disgruntled • Report Comment

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM 'RIPS OF UK FAMILIES'

15.08.08, 4:50pm

It is time to get out of the E.U and take our country back and to all you wimps who it cannot be done my advise is emmigrate it WIL be done and you obviously have no guts

• Posted by: treehugger • Report Comment

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM 'RIPS OF UK FAMILIES'.

13.08.08, 9:26pm

But they DONT rip off French Families cos the French Government will not let them raise their prices beyond the Inflation rate around 3.5%.

The Spanish Government and the Portuguese Also place a cap at rthe inflation rate.

The British New Labour Government ? Well they dont give a damn and they do $od all to cap price hikes for the people of Britain.

• Posted by: EmperorMing • Report Comment