Darling: I want answers over energy price hikes

ALISTAIR Darling has summoned energy regulators into a Whitehall meeting to discuss the cost of power after one of the UK's biggest energy suppliers announced double-digit price increases.

The Chancellor has written to Sir John Mogg, who chairs the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, and Alistair Buchanan, the chief executive of the industry regulator Ofgem, to ask them to investigate the impact of recent wholesale gas and oil price rises on the wider UK energy market.

Mr Darling's intervention, seen at Westminster as a thinly- veiled warning to energy companies over pricing, came after Npower announced rises of 17.2 per cent for gas and 12.7 per cent for electricity in a move that will hit more than four million UK households. It will see an average annual bill with the company jump by 95 for gas and 64 for electricity, meaning that homes that use the company for both will see their average dual bills rise above 1,000.