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Email Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw to demand an end to energy rip off!

Tell Centrica to end the energy rip-off - get off gas and invest in renewables!

British Gas owner Centrica is the biggest UK energy supplier and are currently trying to keep us hooked on expensive, imported gas - recently identified as the major driver of energy price hikes.

Centrica needs to end its dangerous addiction to expensive and polluting fossil fuels - get off gas invest in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency to bring bills under control and tackle climate change.

Email Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw to demand they end the energy rip off!

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Dear Sam Laidlaw

As the UK’s largest household energy supplier, Centrica has a responsibility to bring bills under control for consumers and to tackle climate change.

The average energy bill rose by £150 from March 2011 to March 2012, £100 of which was due solely to the soaring price of gas. Centrica, however, has sought to shift the blame for rising bills away from its own profiteering and dependence on expensive gas, and on to clean, renewable energy. This is despite support for renewables accounting for just £25 of an average annual energy bill of £1320. That’s 48p per week.

The UK is now a net importer of gas and most experts expect prices to rise even further, while the cost of renewable energy is set to continue to fall. If the current pipeline of gas power stations are constructed, the UK will miss its carbon reduction targets and miss out on the opportunity for a world class clean energy industry, which can bring bills under control and create jobs.

Despite this, your company is lobbying for the UK’s dependence on expensive and polluting gas burning to be increased, at the expense of cutting-edge renewable technologies. Many of your rivals have recognised the importance of reducing their reliance on expensive gas imports, investing a far greater proportion of their capital into clean, renewable alternatives.

Between 2007-2011 Centrica built the least renewable energy capacity and invested the smallest proportion of its income into new electricity generating infrastructure of any of the Big Six energy utilities. You have consistently made the highest profit margin of any of the Big Six and have handed over 74% of your profits to shareholders, while failing to invest in bringing bills under control and tackling climate change.

I call on you to stop ripping off consumers and the climate, and instead show real leadership. This means an end to lobbying for the UK to increase its dependence on expensive and polluting gas imports, and serious backing for clean, renewable energy and large-scale energy efficiency.

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