Confusion surrounded the UK Government’s energy policy yesterday as officials denied asking power firms to freeze prices.
Energy companies had reportedly claimed that coalition ministers had requested they keep bills on hold until 2015, unless global prices increased.
However, Prime Minister David Cameron rejected the claims.
Labour, which has pledged to freeze bills if the party wins the 2015 elections, branded the government’s energy policy a “shambles”.
It was the latest twist in an ongoing row over the price of energy, amid public anger at recent bill rises.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “What we now know is that while David Cameron has in public been opposing an energy price freeze, in private he has been pleading with the energy companies to get him off the hook. This is a weak and flailing prime minister.”
Mr Cameron has pledged to “roll back” green levies which push up consumer bills. His spokesman said: “The government has not asked for a price freeze.”
Asked why energy companies might have had the impression they were being asked to keep bills down, he replied: “The prime minister, the government, other ministers have been clear that we want to see cost pressures going down and not up when it comes to energy bills, we’ve been very clear about that.
“Given that we are looking at rolling back the cost of some of the levies the only surprise would be if we weren’t in discussions with the energy companies.”
Mr Cameron, who was at a summit in Lithuania yesterday, said the government was sticking to its original plans.
“I want to help households and families by getting sustainably low prices, and the only way you do that is to increase competition and roll back some of the levies on people’s bills,” he said.
“I’ve said that’s what we’re going to do and that is what we’re going to do.”