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divdiv class=story-body readability=70 span class=story-date#13; span class=date29 October 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time13:10 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=1#13; div id=emp-21006886-16697 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65283000/jpg/_65283177_001073022-1.jpg alt=Clock face - Westminster/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionSelect Committee Live/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The boss of one of Britain's largest energy companies has told MPs that there should be an inquiry into the whole energy market./p#13; pTony Cocker, the chief executive of E.On, said he had written to Prime Minister David Cameron to suggest a full investigation./p#13; pWe need to have a very thorough Competition Commission enquiry, he said./p#13; pHe was speaking in front of MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee./p#13; pThe bosses of the six largest firms in the UK had been summoned in front of the committee to justify their recent price increases./p#13; pSo far, four of the companies have announced increases that average 9.1%, with the others expected to follow./p#13; pThe four firms involved have insisted that the rises were largely due to increasing wholesale prices./p#13; pWilliam Morris, the managing director of SSE, told MPs that his firm had faced a 4% increase in wholesale costs over the last year./p#13; #13; pHe said the cost of transporting energy to homes had risen 10%, while the cost of government and environmental schemes had risen 13%./p#13; pBut the regulator, Ofgem, has argued that wholesale prices have risen by less than the rate of inflation./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=1p class=first-childI speak for a company that is proudly operating power stations and proudly investing in new power stations to ensure the lights stay on”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditTony Cocker/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleChief executive. E.On/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2Its data suggests that wholesale electricity and gas together have risen by just 1.7% over the last year./p#13; pIt estimates the net effect of wholesale gas prices on a household bill should be just £10 extra on a bill of £600./p#13; pStephen Fitzpatrick, the managing director of Ovo Energy, told MPs that wholesale prices paid by his company were actually falling./p#13; pI can't explain any of these price rises, he said./p#13; span class=cross-head'Filibusters'/span#13; pMPs also asked the energy bosses whether they were buying energy from different parts of their own business, thus inflating prices./p#13; pMost of them have a separate generation business as well as a retail business./p#13; pBut Tony Cocker, the chief executive of E.On, denied they were transferring money to their generating arms./p#13; #13; pThere is no cross-subsidy between the two businesses. We operate them as stand-alone businesses, he said./p#13; pMartin Lawrence, a managing director of EDF energy, agreed./p#13; pWe operate our businesses entirely separately, he said./p#13; pThe bosses were also asked about the level of profits in their retail arms./p#13; pGuy Johnson of Npower said they had invested £2.9bn in the UK in the last five years./p#13; pWe've invested 100% of what we have earned in the last five years from generation, said Tony Cocker of E.On./p#13; pI speak for a company that is proudly operating power stations and proudly investing in new power stations to ensure the lights stay on./p#13; pBut Stephen Fitzpatrick, of the Ovo Energy, said the big companies were charging 10% more than they should be./p#13; pWe're all trying to tack down where this money is going, But you will never find it, he said./p#13; pThese guys are the best filibusters in the business./p#13; span class=cross-headTransparency/span#13; p id=story_continues_3MPs on the Energy Committee also wanted to know how the transparency of the energy companies' finances can be improved./p#13; pDo you understand that the people in this country do not trust you? asked Ian Lavery MP./p#13; pI completely agree with you, said Tony Cocker./p#13; pBut we have worked very hard to improve our business and simplify our tariffs, he told the MPs./p#13; pIn a letter to the committee, Ian Peters, the managing director of energy at British Gas, admitted that there was further work to do on that./p#13; pLater this week, the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, is expected to set out further details of the annual competition test for the energy market./p#13; pThe review will be carried out by Ofgem in conjunction with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)./p#13; pThe government has also said it will look at the contribution made to energy bills by the green levies, although these make up a relatively small part of overall costs./p#13; pLabour said it would freeze energy bills for a period of 20 months if it won the next election./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center