Archbishop of Canterbury attacks “inexplicable” energy price hikes

The Archbishop of Canterbury has attacked “inexplicable” hikes in energy bills, after British Gas announced it was increasing its prices by 9.2% last week. The Most Reverend Justin Welby told […]

The Archbishop of Canterbury has attacked “inexplicable” hikes in energy bills, after British Gas announced it was increasing its prices by 9.2% last week.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby told the Mail on Sunday suppliers needed to “justify fully” what they were doing and had a “moral” duty “to behave with generosity and not merely to maximise opportunity.”

The former oil executive said: “I do understand when people feel that this is inexplicable and I can understand people being angry about it, because having spent years on a low income as a clergyman I know what it is like when your household budget is blown apart by a significant extra fuel bill.”

He added: “They have control because they sell something everyone has to buy. We have no choice about buying it. With that amount of power comes huge responsibility to serve society.”

Earlier in the month SSE announced it was raising its prices by 8.2% and today npower revealed its electricity prices would rise by 9.3% and its gas prices by 11.1% starting in December.

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