Labour want new Ofgem powers for energy bill cuts

Ed Miliband wants new Ofgem powers. Picture: Getty

The Labour leader challenged the UK Government parties to back the move and to introduce fast-track legislation to give Ofgem the new powers before May’s general election.

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He called on Chancellor George Osborne to “put his money where his mouth is” and make it mandatory for the energy companies to reflect falling prices in bills to consumers, as he revealed Labour would stage a Commons vote on the issue this week.

Mr Miliband, speaking on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, said: “We do want to see those reductions in wholesale costs passed on to consumers ... We see wholesale costs go down 20 per cent in gas prices over the last year and no reduction in bills.”

“We’ve got a zombie Parliament which isn’t doing anything, isn’t actually passing much legislation,” said Mr Miliband. “Let’s in the last three months of this Parliament do something which will actually make a difference.

“Let’s reduce energy bills for consumers. We can do that as well as having this freeze to make sure energy bills don’t rise.

“We are going to have a vote this week on this measure. We want the Government to support us, we want the Liberal Democrats to support us. The Government has been making noises over the last week to say that they are concerned about price reductions not being passed on. Let’s see them put their money where their mouth is and say they are going to support us on this.”

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