Fuel Prices: Twelfth Report of Session 2004-05; Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

The Committee's report examines the recent price increases in gas supply and the resulting rises in electricity prices (as about 40 per cent of electricity generation in England and Wales is gas-fired), focusing on the effects of the price increases on all types of energy customers. The report seeks to assess whether the rises are a temporary response to short-term supply problems or the start of a long-term increase in UK energy prices, and to consider possible responses by Ofgem, the regulator of the gas and electricity markets, and the DTI to the problem. Topics discussed include: Ofgem's report into wholesale gas prices and reactions to it; the decline in production from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS); gas storage and supply issues; the behaviour and transparency of the gas market and regulation issues; oil indexation in gas contracts; competition within European markets; vertical integration; the electricity market; new infrastructure projects; and the future of gas prices.