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UK energy boss: Government must show more urgency to solve energy price hike
One energy boss has told the BBC, the government is showing "nowhere near enough urgency" in finding a solution to steep increases in gas and electricity prices.
The BBC said that Ovo's boss Stephen Fitzpatrick predicts the rise in wholesale gas prices and its impact on people will be "an enormous crisis for 2022".
Mr Fitzpatrick said the main worry was how consumers would be supported through price increases.
He said: "We've seen this energy crisis unfold now for the last three months and we've watched as energy prices have spiked, fallen back, and spiked again."
"We've had more than 30 bankruptcies in the sector, we've had millions of customers forced to change supplier.
He added: "The cost to the consumer has already been more than £4bn. We haven't seen any action from the government or from the regulator. There's an acceptance that there's a problem, but nowhere near enough urgency to find a solution."
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The BBC said that in recent months, wholesale gas prices have risen to unprecedented levels. Last week, they hit a new record of 450p per therm, which experts think could take average annual gas bills to around £2,000 next year.
Mr Fitzpatrick's comments come ahead of Monday's meeting between Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and the bosses of leading energy companies and the regulator Ofgem.
Source: BBC
