French energy goliath EDF is charging households across the United Kingdom almost two and a half times more than those on the other side of the Channel.
Électricité de France customers in Britain have their annual energy bills capped at £1,971 under a system overseen by Ofgem - who regulate the UK's energy. But French householders on their country's regulated tariffs only face bills in the region of €950 (£803).
And with Ofgem expected to bring further rises to the price cap in October, thought to be in the region of 80 per cent, French President Emmanuel Macron has told the state-owned business that they can only increase bills by 4 per cent.
Read more: Households can get up to £1,500 free to help pay energy bills - here's how to claim it
The Mirror reports that the French government has forced EDF to sell electricity generated by nuclear reactors, in a bid to rival suppliers at sub-average market prices, in-turn, keeping prices low for consumers. Mr Macron has also unveiled plans to nationalise the energy supplier, so he can also have more control over its plans for domestic energy pricing.
The drastic measures in place in France contrast hugely with the UKs rulings, where the Tory government has been accused of doing nothing new to help combat the national energy crisis. Joe Malinowski, founder of price comparison service TheEnergyShop.com said: “When you see a difference like this you’d think there was something wrong with prices in the UK.”
This news comes as economists anticipate that figures next week will show inflation to have soared to almost 10 per cent on figures last month. Research consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics forecast that the ONS will announce the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation leap from 9.4% in June to 9.9% in July - a new more than 40-year high.
The Bank of England also predicts that inflation will top 13 per cent following October's wave of energy price hikes.
In better news however, the AA predict that petrol prices are expected to drop on average further below 175p a litre this weekend, with diesel coming down to 185.90p. Meanwhile, the UK Government is considering whether or not to hand out further help to struggling businesses faced with the crushing weight of their energy bills.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said it is “essential” to help heavy industry to cut production costs. He is proposing that the Government increases the exemption from some environmental and policy costs that certain companies were given in March.
The new proposal would in-turn increase the exemption from 85 per cent to cover 100 per cent of the costs.
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