This is the question that we must ask ourselves in the light of the latest suggestions from regulator OFGEM that the Direct Debit energy bills supplied must be more accurate in the future, and provide a detailed breakdown of what exactly you are paying for with your energy bills (BBC News). There has been complaints from consumer groups for a number of years that energy firms have been setting their direct debit rates too high. OFGEM concluded that it could find no evidence that this was the case, but we will be checking our bills anyway and would suggest that you do the same.
Who are we paying?
Whilst pondering your bill it also may be worth considering exactly WHO you are paying – as most of the UK energy firms are owned by foreign comapanies (how many UK energy consumers are aware of this?, perhaps something OFGEM could research in the future…..)
- Scottish and Southern Energy – Has been based in Perth, Scotland since its inception in 1998
- E.ON – Took over Powergen in 2002 – German-based.
- NPower – Parent company in German behemoth RWE
- Électricité de France (EDF) – Produced 22% of 2003 EU Electricity, 74.5% of which was from Nuclear Power.
- Scottish Power – Under control of Spanish utilities firm Iberdola
- British Gas – Centrica ltd took over the British Gas name in the UK
Quite alot of factors to ponder then when analysing whether you are getting cheaper gas and electricity.
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