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Energy talks stagnate over "bad joke"
01 September, 2008Talks between the government and the 'big six' energy suppliers have run into rough ground, it has been reported, as one supplier lamented the calls for energy companies to pay a windfall tax.
Talks between the government and the 'big six' energy suppliers have run into rough ground, it has been reported, as one supplier lamented the calls for energy companies to pay a windfall tax.
Criticising the government's request that the energy providers pay a one-off tax on extraordinarily high profits, E.on referred to the tax as a "bad joke", the Independent has reported.
It was hoped that Alistair Darling would have some good news for consumers this week as he planned to announce that a deal has been done, but none of the big six - Centrica, EDF, E.on, Npower, Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern Energy - are happy about the prospect of paying yet more tax.
"Nothing has been decided yet, as you could ask the same for bread, petrol or housing. In a market economy this is more like a bad joke," one E.on spokesman told the newspaper.
"There is a lot of opposition against this," he added.
It was hoped that the extra tax money would be spent on making energy cheaper for poorer households, or perhaps given as a one-off payment for those suffering from fuel poverty.
The long, drawn-out sale of British Energy (BE) to EDF Energy has come to an end after the French energy firm bought BE for £12.5 billion, it has been reported.
Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.
Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a major defeat over the government's reluctance to impose a windfall tax on energy companies, it has been reported.
The City of London has launched a campaign against Gordon Brown in order to convince him that introducing a windfall tax on energy companies should be avoided.
TaylorWimpey has reported phenomenally poor first half results for the year so far, recording a loss of £1.5 billion, it has been announced.