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You can blame the European power giants for sky-high bills: They buy the gas we can't store and sell it BACK Sean Poulter Energy prices are rising faster in Britain than almost anywhere in Western Europe because foreign suppliers are rationing our own gas. As major users told MPs that European power monopolies were effectively holding Britain to ransom, the extent of the UK's suffering was spelled out by the respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It said UK energy prices have jumped 13.6 per cent in the past year, adding hundreds of pounds to domestic bills. This compares with 9.5 per cent in Germany, 12 per cent in France and just 2.8 per cent in the Netherlands. And there are warnings that UK household bills could rise by a further 25 per cent this autumn. The problem stems from the fact the country is no longer self-sufficient in gas from the North Sea and has become reliant on imports during the winter. Foreign power firms are buying cheap North Sea gas from Britain in the summer and putting it into vast storage facilities on the Continent. They then refuse to pipe it back to the UK when it is needed in the winter, effectively rationing supplies and pushing up prices. The UK is vulnerable to these strong-arm tactics because we have such tiny gas holding facilities that we cannot store cheap North Sea gas in the summer for use in the winter.
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