By IRNA,
London : Britons could face future power shortages and unaffordable energy bills unless radical action is taken to safeguard supplies in future years, the country’s energy regulator, Ofgem, warned in a wide-ranging report Wednesday.
The UK’s open competitive energy market could fail to deliver secure, sustainable supplies in the coming decade, the regulator said.
A significant number of consumers may not be able to afford the higher energy prices they will have to face, it said, warning that bills could further rise by up to 25pc over the next decade unless measures are taken.
The report pointed to an unprecedented combination of the global financial crisis, tough environmental targets, increasing gas import dependency and the closure of ageing power stations casting “reasonable doubt” about supplies being delivered under current arrangements.
Earlier this week, the price comparison website moneysupermarket.com said that Britain have already doubled energy bills since 2003.
Its research showed that the winter energy bill for an average household has increased by 20 per cent, or £104 ($170) in just 12 months – from £512 to £616.
Speaking on BBC Radio Four Wednesday, Ofgem’s Chief Executive, Alistair Buchanan, said energy bills could further rise up between 14 and 25pc by 2020.
“Faced with the unprecedented challenge of carbon prices, the unprecedented challenge of the credit crunch and the unprecedented challenge of maintaining international supplies, we’re looking at new solutions to protect security of supply,” Buchanan warned.
Among its range of solutions Ofgem suggested that companies should be required to deliver more generation capacity and gas storage and that the industry should revert to a form of centralized market control, following a series of privatizations in the last three decades.
“There is an increasing consensus that leaving the present system of market arrangements and other incentives unchanged is not an option,” Buchanan said.