Cold comfort

As a consequence of customers having to keep the heating turned up all winter, British Gas parent company Centrica says it is on track for a seven per cent rise in profits and, to show its gratitude, it will hold prices “for as long as possible”.

Customers, of course, will feel that, after a long, hard winter spent boosting energy companies’ profits, they deserve a price cut, not a vague promise that bills might not rise for a few months or so. Indeed, customers of providers other than British Gas have yet to receive even that.

In any case, all consumers know the ritual.

Sooner or later, they will receive a letter informing them that bills will go up “because of rising costs largely outside the company’s control”.

And because regulators have failed to stimulate 
a market with proper 
choice and competition, they will have no option but to pay up.