E.ON, which has a total of 5.5 million UK customers, said it was “committed to offering competitive energy prices at all times and delivering on our promises” But it comes after E.ON hiked gas prices by 45% and electricity by 27% last ye

“Our power stations have traditionally relied on coal, whose sources in the UK are very limited. Also, it is expensive to mine coal in the UK than importing it from Eastern Europe. LNG is definitely going to replace coal, whose prospects look bleak in our country.Liquefied natural gas will be used to fire power stations and industries across the UK,” said Burns, a Conservative member for South Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West in Wales.

She said the growth of the LNG industry in Milford Haven would be a boon for the UK in general and Pembrokeshire County in particular.

“South Hook LNG Terminal Company has created hundreds of jobs- direct and indirect, in the county. Our businesses have been benefiting from the Qatar-led project. More importantly, it will ensure heating of millions of homes across the UK. Isn’t it significant at a time our own energy resources have been dwindling?” Burns said.

She said the decision to tap Milford Haven’s potential as a LNG industry hub was timely and proper. “Milford Haven offers a deep water harbour, one of the largest in the world. It can easily berth super tankers that bring in LNG from Ras Laffan,” Burns said.

She said a gas-fired power station is now being set up at Milford Haven, just across the South Hook LNG Terminal, a joint venture among QP, ExxonMobil and Total. It would generate and transmit electricity to the national grid, powering industries and homes across the UK.

Burns also hailed the corporate social responsibility initiative of South Hook LNG Terminal Company and said it had benefited the local community.

“They have supported many programmes in our local schools. I understand they are planning a cultural exchange programme involving both Qatari and British students,” Burns said.

Paul Davies, another Conservative member of the National Assembly for Wales representing Preseli (Pembrokeshire), said the initial concerns about housing a mega LNG facility at Milford Haven have been “addressed”.

“Yes, some people were concerned about its safety and impact on the local environment. But we have been able to convince them of the highest safety measures adopted by South Hook LNG Terminal Company in particular and the industry in general. They have also realised about the economic potential of the LNG industry. South Hook LNG facility has benefited all of us. Many have jobs and money in their pockets now,” Davies said.

Davies termed as “spectacular” the Qatargas 2 project, which is the world’s first fully integrated value chain LNG venture.

“The facilities at Ras Laffan and the terminal in South Hook are considered a major construction feat with few parallels in terms of the pure scale of physical infrastructure in the global LNG industry. I have seen the entire project-from Ras Laffan to Milford Haven. Qatar’s commitment in developing its LNG industry is admirable,” said Davies who witnessed the inauguration of Qatargas 2 (Train 4) at Ras Laffan in April.

Households struggling to pay bills in areas where tariffs are high should receive a “water benefit” of up to £170. Every household in Britain should eventually be moved onto a water meter, at cost of £3 billion. Lavatories with large cisterns and large shower heads should be banned from being sold.

Domestic appliances should carry water efficiency labels, with the least efficient washing machines and dishwashers outlawed. A spokesman for Anna Walker said: “This should be seen as a wake up call. Water is going to become much more scarce in summer because of climate change, and the population is increasing.

“We either spend billions on desalination plants and building extra water storage, or we do something about saving water now.”

Water companies have the power to force swimming pool owners to move onto water meters, but according to the report most do not enforce their powers and the majority of the estimated 210,000 pool owners are on rates – paying no more for their water than neighbours without pools.

The Anna Walker team believe “as a matter of urgency” legislation should be passed to make it mandatory for companies to move high water user customers onto meters, using – if need be – Google Earth and garden inspectors to find out who is using sophisticated watering systems, pools and ponds.

The report also believes that everyone in the south east, south west and areas of low rainfall should be moved onto meters, potentially pushing up bills for large families substantially.

The report was warmly welcomed by environmental campaigners, but consumer groups cautioned that some customers - who wouldn’t qualify for water benefit - could be hit disproportionately hard.

Tony Smith, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “There are already a large number of customers struggling to pay their water bills and we have concerns they could suffer significantly.”

“Electricity demand forecasts for next winter, however, are showing a slowdown in the rate of decline of electricity demand,” the company said in a statement. “This could be an indication that the economy is beginning to stabilise as the recession shows signs of slowing.” Weather corrected electricity demand for April 2009 was down 8.1 percent compared to April 2008, while demand for June 2009 compared to June 2008 was down by only 4.8 percent, National Grid said.

However, drawing any firm conclusions about whether demand will further reduce from here or if it will have started to increase by the winter to come is extremely difficult.

Installed generation capacity relative to the Average Cold Spell (ACS) peak demand for next winter of 57.8 gigawatts indicates there should be a plant margin of 33 percent, excluding potential imports from France.  “Setting the ACS demand forecast along side the generation availability figures shows comfortable electricity availability for winter to come,” the report says.

“It should be possible to comfortably meet even our 1 in 20 probability demands plus our short term operating reserve.”

The recession has also hit gas demand in Britain. Despite last winter being the coldest since 1993, gas and power demand were both down compared to winter 2007/08.

UK business gas supplies from Norway are also expected to be higher next winter as more production comes on line and Britain should be able to import much more liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the South Hook terminal in Wales opened in May and the nearby Dragon LNG terminals is expected to open in summer.

The hope is people will change their behaviour to save money. The meters will also help homeowners sell electricity from green technologies like roof-top wind turbines back to the grid while improving energy demand forecasts and network management.

Smart meters are seen as a first step toward creating “smart grids” where consumers can adjust electricity use to benefit from cheaper energy at times of low demand, including charging electric cars, and reduce consumption at peak times.

“Today’s announcement of 2,600 new jobs by 2012 shows we are creating skilled green jobs in Britain and training the experts who will help customers become more energy efficient in the future,” Phil Bentley, managing direct at British Gas said in a statement.

The British government estimates that smart meters could deliver net benefits of between 2.5 million pounds and 3.6 million pounds over the next 20 years.

In April, the government set a 2020 target to cut Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent compared with 1990 levels. But the necessary renewable energy growth and efficiency improvements have so far been small.

The new British Gas workers will advise customers on the range of rates available, conduct energy efficiency audits and provide tips on how to cut energy use.

The 2,600 new jobs are in addition to the 1,500 new green jobs the company announced earlier this year.

“It has given the children an insight into the world of enterprise and innovation as they have followed the design process throughout the past year. “It fits with our eco-school aims and will support the children in the work they carry out related to the conservation of energy.  We also want to raise awareness among young people about the simple ways to avoid wasting energy.

Device designer Tanya Ewing has won an Inventor of the Year award for her creation. She said: “I am delighted that my local council is the first in Scotland to trial the Ewgeco monitors. “The aim of the equipment is to give people real-time information about their energy and water consumption that can be put to practical and educational use.”

Leader of the council Ian Miller added: “As a council we are committed to doing all we can to protect the environment in a number of ways - by recycling, using renewable energy in the form of biomass, and, as we are highlighting today, cutting our energy consumption wherever we can.

“We also want to raise awareness among young people about the simple ways to avoid wasting energy like switching off lights and electrical equipment when they are not needed, and making sure taps are turned off.”

However, in the UK water companies are not legally allowed to do this and Thames Water wants Parliament to explore the possibility. The key issue for the firm, which announced a profit of £435.1M earlier this month, is that gas and electric companies have the power to cut supplies to customers who don’t pay.

The group, which provides drinking water for 8.5m customers, also beleive bad debt adds £11-a-year to honest customers’ bills. David Owens, Thames Water’s chief executive, said: “First things first, no one is going to get cut off. “We don’t want to cut anyone off, and we’re not allowed to anyway.

A law change would be required before water firms could use flow restrictors, so they’re not going to be in action any time soon - if at all. “Even if they were used, there would be no health implications. These devices would simply reduce flow, not cut it completely. “We’ve currently got £45m of ‘bad debt’ - in other words, outstanding bills. “That adds £11-a-year to the bills of honest customers who do pay, and that can’t be right. “That’s why we’ve asked a group of MPs who are drafting some new legislation to make chasing down non-payers easier for water firms - so it’s fairer for the rest of us. “One of the things we’ve asked them to consider is restrictors, which are used in some parts of Australia to lessen the flow of water to non-payers in order to inconvenience them into paying.

“We don’t even want to use flow restrictors - and right now we’re unsure how we would use them anyway - but we do think they need looking at as a last resort for customers who are perfectly able to pay but refuse to do so. “But we’ll leave the final call on this to the MPs whose job it is to decide. And finally, let’s be absolutely clear: we’re after the won’t pays - not the can’t pays. “If you genuinely can’t pay your bill, we can discuss a range of ways to help you, including financial assistance through our Charitable Trust, a £5m fund set up to help customers in need.”

Energy Contract Renewals Explained

Most providers require businesses to give at least 90 days’ notice before the end of an energy contract if they want to move elsewhere. ScottishPower recently changed the terms of its business contract so firms have a ‘termination window’ of between 90 days and 45 days before the end of their contract. Failing to give notice in time can cost small businesses dear. This time last year tariffs were available from 7p per kilowatt-hour for business electricity and at 2.5p per kilowatt-hour for gas. However the sharp increase in wholesale prices in 2008 means renewal tariffs are typically 14p per kWh for electricity and 5p per kWh for gas.

How to cut your energy bills

But for one local council in Aberdeen they have some serious debt problems of their own, the council is currently £50 million under and has mentioned to staff members that they are to not use unnecessary electrical appliances whilst at work.  What constitutes an “unnecessary appliance”? Well top of their list are toasters, kettles and desk fans. There are even talks to send staff on training courses to encourage better driving practices to conserve fuel and reduce the £1.5 million diesel fuel costs. 

This and other fuel costs for the council tipped the scales at £10 million.  Other odd changes proposed include using scrap paper instead of ordering post-it notes, removing all non-council fridges, kettles, microwave ovens and even turning off safety lighting outside of office hours.

Whilst the council’s debt solutions seem a bit “out there” it’s this kind of frugality that may help people who are struggling with debt to cope in this age of missed repayments and house repossessions.  Conserving energy is a hot topic for both environmental concerns but also since it is a commodity that is both necessary and price is on the increase it makes sense to try and conserve energy if only to save on the pennies. Many more people have spent themselves in to bankruptcy and now face a similar situation to the Aberdeen council, hopefully with much less owing than £50 million but there are some solutions for if you do end up in a rut, such as Individual Volountary Arrangements which can help avoid bankruptcy.

Smart energy meters will bring about the end of estimated electricity bills and meter readings, and provide customers and energy suppliers with accurate information on the amount of electricity and gas being used.