British Energy Companies To Pay $1.6B To Offset Fuel Bills
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LONDON — Prime Minister Brown said yesterday that British energy companies will pay $1.6 billion over three years to help Britons cut their soaring domestic fuel bills.
Mr. Brown said the money will fund home improvements like insulation. It will also help low-income families to pay energy bills and homeowners to replace inefficient heating systems.
Mr. Brown said package could help families save up to $527.
The announcement was aimed at helping Britons struggling with rising food and fuel prices amid a gloomy economic picture.
Though Mr. Brown has long boasted of Britain’s economic resilience, the European Commission and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predict Britain will fall into recession this year.
Mr. Brown — who took office in part because of his reputation for economic shrewdness — acknowledged that he must take some of the blame.
“I’m the person who is in charge and I have got to take responsibility for what happens,” Mr. Brown said at a press conference.
But Mr. Brown’s measures fell short of demands from some labor unions for a one-time windfall tax on energy companies.
“Greedy energy companies are putting the squeeze on ordinary people,” the joint leader of Britain’s Unite labor union, Tony Woodley, said.
