Looking back, July 30th 2008 might well be marked as a watershed date for Britain’s energy consumers. On that date, British Gas announced an unprecedented increase on the price of gas - an astounding 35% - marking the single biggest increase ever announced by any of the big six suppliers in the UK. Because most consumers already pay about 60% of their household energy bills on gas, British Gas’ decision to raise electricity prices by “only” 9% at the same time will do nothing to undo the damage that has been done. The energy markets are still struggling with the aftermath of this shock. Four of the big six energy suppliers (E.ON, Npower, ScottishPower, and the Scottish and Southern Group), which together supply about 70% of the UK’s households, are furiously working their calculators, deciding by how much to up their own standard rate prices.