Britain's most senior cleric on Sunday waded into a growing
debate over home fuel bills in the U.K., challenging companies to
justify steep rate increases for electricity and gas.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, a former oil executive,
said energy companies have a moral obligation to set prices fairly,
because they sell something everyone has to buy.
"With that amount of power comes huge responsibility to serve
society," he said in an interview with the British newspaper The
Mail on Sunday. "It is not like some other sectors of business
where people can walk away from you if they don't want to buy your
product and you are entitled to seek to maximize your profit."
Before becoming a vicar, the archbishop worked 11 years as a
financial manager in the oil industry: five years for French firm
Elf Aquitaine followed by six years for London-based Enterprise
Oil, a production company now part of the Shell conglomerate.
The issue of fuel prices erupted when Ed Miliband, leader of the
opposition Labour Party, pledged last month to freeze bills for 20
months if he wins the next election, set for 2015.
The debate intensified when energy suppliers SSE and British Gas
announced rate hikes this month that shocked and angered many
Britons. The companies pointed to factors including the rising cost
of wholesale energy and government-imposed levies to support
renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Next month, British Gas customers will pay 8.4% more for gas and
10.4% more for electricity. SSE customers will see their bills rise
8.2%. Other U.K. energy suppliers are expected to follow suit in
coming months.
The Archbishop said people are understandably upset.
"I can understand people being angry about it, because having
spent years on a low income as a clergyman, I know what it is like
when your household budget is blown apart by a significant extra
fuel bill and your anxiety levels become very high. That is the
reality of it."
Full story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2467854/Archbishop-Justin-Welby-damns-energy-price-hikes-controversial-attack-Firms-generosity--just-maximise-profits.html
-Write to London bureau at generaldesklondon@dowjones.com
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