Consumers given 'slap in the face' by utilities firms

Though Britons have long been praised for their calmness in the face of adversity and all-round stoicism, police chiefs recently revealed that they are drawing up plans to deal with what they fear could be a summer of unrest on the nation's streets.

However, far from the usual trouble-making suspects such as students and political extremists, the barricades will be manned by suburban housewives and the hard-pushed middle classes in general who have had enough of seeing their hard-earned money being stretched to breaking point, the authorities believe.

Though such a scenario may seem overly-alarmist and far-fetched, there can be no doubting that the backlash against astronomical gas and electricity bills has already begun, with the cause of consumer groups having been fuelled this week by the news that Centrica, the owners of British Gas, pocketed profits of £1.94 billion in 2008.

Specifically, the new figures released by the energy group show that, over the period when it pushed up the average household's annual fuel bill by 55 per cent, British Gas made £379 million in profit, equivalent to £24 for each of its 15 million customers.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, given that even those savvy consumers who have been shopping around and switching utilities suppliers have still seen their energy bills go up, news of the profits have been branded as a "slap in the face" for Britons and have reinvigorated calls for the 'Big Six' to put their prices down.

"With over five million households in fuel poverty, but millions in profits still being made, the energy market is clearly working for shareholders but not consumers," Robert Hammond, energy expert for Consumer Focus, told the Telegraph.

"Energy companies need to make a profit like any other business, but this must not be squeezed out of consumers who are struggling to afford high fuel bills."

In its defence, British Gas has argued that it was forced to put up its prices in 2008 due to rising wholesale gas markets, while the fact that the residential arm of its operations suffered a profits loss over the period is testament to the fact that it is helping to protect households from the worst of the market fluctuations.

Despite such claims, the case for the government taking action to ensure that switching utilities suppliers really can lead to substantial savings keeps getting stronger, with the shadow energy and climate change secretary Greg Clark now calling for an official apology to be given to the millions currently struggling against fuel poverty.

On the plus side, Centrica, along with several other suppliers, has indicated that falling wholesale prices could lead them to cut consumer bills within the next few weeks, though Centrica's chief executive Sam Laidlaw admitted "it is too early to tell".