15 December 2005
Gas shortages this winter could be disastrous for key groups of domestic and commercial users alike, the House of Commons Trade and Industry committee has warned.
Vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and the disabled are at risk, while the biggest industrial firms may struggle to get enough gas to meet their demands, the committee said.
Rising gas prices have been blamed on a combination of dwindling North Sea reserves and a lack of supply from mainland Europe, which is thought to be struggling to catch up with the UK on liberalisation.
Prices are also expected to rise after weather forecasters predicted the coldest winter in a decade.
Fuel poverty households, designated as those who spend ten per cent of their income or more on heating, are set to face a difficult few months.
At present the government only supplies aid to elderly fuel poverty sufferers, a policy criticised by the committee who expressed concern at the continuing struggle of "non-elderly vulnerable groups, particularly disabled people, whose difficulties in relation to fuel poverty have been known for a long time".
Meanwhile big businesses may have to suffer interruptions to production or pay bloated prices for more gas.
"The problem is caused not only by matters outside the control of government, but also by a legacy of slow development of infrastructure, and the lack of a true European market for gas," the committee reported.
While Ofgem, the energy market regulator, continued to insist that the liberalisation of the UK's gas market had benefited customers, MPs warned that unless appropriate action is taken the UK could face "a malfunctioning forward gas market for a decade".
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