The meeting on Wednesday is expected to cover the measures suppliers will take this winter to help those already in energy debt and stop others from falling into it
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to strip winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners as energy bosses were called in for talks on helping vulnerable households during the dark and cold months ahead. Executives from Centrica, EDF, E.On, Octopus Energy, Scottish Power, Good Energy, Rebel Energy, Ovo, So Energy, Ecotricity and Utility Warehouse are expected at the roundtable event with the Government.
"It's not a decision I wanted to make," she said. "It was a decision that I had to make in incredibly challenging circumstances to put our public finances on a firm footing." Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: "In real terms, the changes this winter mean that some older people will face the highest energy bills on record. This has the potential to create a public health emergency which will actually create more pressure on the under-pressure NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix."
Rising prices in the international energy market, due to heightened political tensions and extreme weather events, were the main driver behind the decision. It means households will be going into the colder months facing higher bills than since April when the cap was lowered.
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