Npower report criticised for misleading consumers

Big six power company Npwower has come under criticism for misleading consumers with claims that rising energy bills are the fault of  "old and draughty" houses.

Npower Chief executive Paul Massara said the prices of gas and electricity in the UK are among the lowest in Europe and expensive bills are "because British houses waste so much energy".

In the supplier's second "Energy Explained" report, Mr Massara said: "If we can increase the efficiency of the UK's old and draughty housing, we can ensure that annual energy bills are some of the lowest too."

The claims have come under heavy criticism by regulators Ofgem who said that “their data on network costs is incorrect and misleading.”

A spokesman for Ofgem said: “We offered to help npower improve the accuracy of their numbers for network charges and it is disappointing that they did not engage fully with us until after the document had been circulated.
“Ofgem directly regulates the money that network companies can earn through charges.

“Given this level of certainty we can see that after 2014 network costs per household are expected to remain broadly flat in real terms. It is unclear how npower can state with any authority otherwise.”

A government spokesman from the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Npower’s analysis of the impact of energy bills is misleading on so many levels.

“Government estimates that the impact of our social and environmental programmes will in fact lower energy bills compared to what they would be in the absence of our policies, by as much as £166 in 2020.
“A number of the policies listed by Npower don’t have any impact on household energy bills, including the Renewable Heat Incentive, Climate Change Levy and the Carbon Reduction Commitment.”

Npower announced a 10% average bill increase in the latest round of price rises late last year, affecting over 3 million customers nationwide.

Next week Exeter Citizen’s Advice Bureau is holding a series of events to give people free guidance on how to get the best deals for their energy bills.

Advisers from Exeter CAB will be in local libraries to help residents as part of the chairty’s national Big Energy Saving Week

Steve Barriball Chief Executive of Exeter CAB, said: “During Big Energy Saving Week we’ll be helping consumers to check, switch and insulate to bring their energy costs down. The rising cost of living means that more and more people are finding that their household budgets won’t cover day to day essentials.

“We’re keen to make sure that no-one pays a penny more than they need to on energy costs. There are practical things that people can do to reduce their energy bills and help ease financial pressure.”
 
These events will be held on  Wednesday 29 January at St Thomas Library from 10am – 3pm and on Friday 31st January at Central Library from 10am – 3pm.