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Energy Campaigner John Hemming MP has asked a question of the Energy Minister (Malcolm Wicks MP) to find out what impact a cold winter will have on the prices consumers have to pay.

4.16.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th Oct 2004

John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley

Energy Campaigner John Hemming MP has asked a question of the Energy Minister (Malcolm Wicks MP) to find out what impact a cold winter will have on the prices consumers have to pay.

"We know ", he said, " that wholesale gas prices are likely to rocket if, as expected, we have a cold winter. In theory this should not affect domestic consumers. However, if some domestic retail suppliers have straddled the market and are selling gas at a fixed rate whilst buying it at a variable rate then they could find themselves going bust. This will require consumers to immediately find another supplier and although they will continue to receive gas it is unclear what price they have to pay. "

"Clearly some suppliers will have bought gas options and futures, but there is a substantial potential counterparty risk as well."

"Ministers need to think about this issue now. Gas prices could quite easily spike as they did in the USA and if people on low fixed incomes such as Senior Citizens end up paying the variable rate this could be very difficult for them."

"The short sightedness of this government is a major issue. A week may be a long time in politics, but the government really should start doing some proper, scientific, long term forecasting."

ENDS

The question (submitted to the table office today) follows:

What estimates has the minister made as to what the variability of wholesale gas prices may be during the coming winter?

What investigation has been done as to the impact of straddling whereby a domestic retail supplier is selling gas at a fixed price and buying gas at a variable wholesale price?

In the event that any domestic suppliers find themselves unable to continue trading as a result of loss making supply

a) how will domestic purchasers obtain supplies of gas

b) what price are domestic purchasers likely to have to pay to maintain their gas supply?

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Previous news story: Winning in West Worcestershire (Thu 21st Oct 2004).
Next news story: West Midlands Liberal Democrats hold successful Conference (Sat 6th Nov 2004).

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