Commodity prices seeing “seismic shift”

Commodity prices are being faced with a “seismic shift”, which could ultimately see UK consumers faced with increased energy prices and an added debt management headache.

The chief executive of E.ON Dr Paul Golby told a parliamentary committee this week that the pressure on energy and other commodity prices is very definitely upward.

Meanwhile, the director of regulation for Scottish Energy Rupert Steele went on to say that “it is easy to see” how the BBC came up with its estimation of a 40 per cent rise on household energy bills by winter 2008.

Each of the six largest energy suppliers to the UK market were represented at the recent hearing and each suggested that the wholesale commodity cost rises would result in higher bills for families across the country.

Combined Insurance reported recently that the typical household bill in the UK has risen by more than one-quarter over the course of the past 24 months.

By Giles Stevenson