Amid high fuel prices, the British Prime Minister wants energy companies to pay an additional £500 million through purchase of carbon permits. The permits, which would probably come in £100 million per year for 5 consecutive years, will be to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of the power firms. Gordon Brown plans to use this money to support poor families that are under fire because of escalating fuel prices.
With previous plans, the energy firms would have bid for 7% of the total permits worth £1.5 billion per year; this would have given them the remaining for free. The current suggestion would make them bid for 3% more, which is expected to be £100 million a year.
Around five months back, Britain’s top six energy firms promised an additional £220 million to support poor households with their fuel expenses; however, the firms haven’t reached a consensus yet on how the money would be spent. Watchdog Energywatch states around 5.5 million families in the UK are living with fuel poverty at the moment.
