What David Cameron said on Wednesday endorsed our own ethos but could serve to reduce investment.

19 October 2012

Comment from Doug Stewart following David Cameron's speech in the House of Commmons

"As a business we default customers who join us or move into properties that we supply to our cheapest tariff. We do so because we think it’s the right moral and ethical thing to do; and we have always done so. Admittedly we operate a simple tariff structure but that is to ensure our message is clear and the consumer is not confused.

"While David Cameron might have had the consumer’s interest at heart when making his statement in the commons yesterday, we are concerned that announcements such as these – out of the blue as far as most of the industry is concerned – serve to undermine confidence in energy policy. The industry needs a sound regulatory framework to encourage the investment required to deliver energy through the 21st century. It is less than a year since the government reduced the Feed in Tariffs payments in the middle of the consultation period without due consideration for the wider impact and which ultimately failed

"The energy industry was privatised to provide competition; it remains regulated to ensure that competition works. What we face here is renationalisation by the back door through knee-jerk populist legislation. If the government want to dictate prices in the energy industry why aren’t they legislating on the price of milk to protect British farmers? Where does it stop?"