LONDON — The UK government was on Monday holding an
emergency meeting with energy and consumer groups, as the country experiences
record gas prices that threaten huge bills for households as well as
undermining food supplies and casting doubt on energy firms' futures.
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Prime Minister
Boris Johnson sought to reassure consumers
fearing surging winter power bills and the possibility of more small British
energy firms collapsing from higher costs.
Faced with a fast-moving situation, Business Secretary Kwasi
Kwarteng was meeting with the energy industry and consumer groups.
Speaking during a visit to the United States, Johnson said
"people should be reassured in the sense that yes there are a lot of short-term
problems not just in our country... but around the world caused by gas supplies
and shortages of all kinds".
"We've got to try and fix it as fast as we can, make
sure we have the
supplies we want, make sure we don't allow the companies we
rely on to go under. We'll have to do everything we can," British media
reported him as saying.
'Bleak outlook'
Prices of natural gas in Britain have hit record highs, also
driven up after a fire knocked out a vital point connecting the country's power
grid to France.
Wholesale prices for gas have rocketed 70 percent since
August, adding to already strong inflation that has been stoked by staff
shortages as economies reopen after pandemic lockdowns.
Market prices have soared by 203 percent since January.
Many small energy providers have emerged in the UK market
over recent years, grabbing large amounts of customers from established players
such as British Gas.
But on Monday, Peter McGirr, chief executive of small energy
firm Green, said "the outlook is looking bleak"
.
"We just don't have as deep pockets to keep going
through this crisis. I think that all suppliers are feeling the pinch of this
but some of them just have a lot deeper pockets to try and ride out the
storm."
McGirr called for government support or "it's unlikely
we will see the winter through".
A lack of atmospheric wind for turbine sites, coupled with
ongoing nuclear outages and the winding down of coal mines by climate-conscious
governments, has left parts of Europe grappling with an energy crisis.
Russia says its newly completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
to Germany will alleviate any winter shortages.
But the US government and EU ally Ukraine are deeply opposed
to the Kremlin-backed project.
Downing Street insisted that Britain was not dependent on
Russian gas supplies.
"We meet half of our annual supply through domestic
production and the vast majority of imports come from supplies such as
Norway," a spokesman said.
Carbon dioxide shortage
Owing to the price hikes, Britain is grappling also with a
shortage of carbon dioxide gas, triggering warnings of further pressure on food
supplies, which are already hit by a shortage of lorry drivers.
Fertilizer production at two UK plants providing up to 60
percent of Britain's CO2 output has been halted since last week.
"With fewer than 100 days to go until Christmas, and
already facing mounting labor shortages, the last thing British poultry
production needs is more pressure," British Poultry Council chief
executive Richard Griffiths said in a statement Friday.
Carbon dioxide is used in the humane slaughter of animals.
"If vital sectors like the poultry meat industry face
CO2 shortages that compromise their performance, it will very quickly become an
issue of national security. We hope this can be avoided through swift
government action," Griffiths added.
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