Even so, late last month protesters met outside Centrica’s headquarters to protest what they are calling a major ‘rip-off’ in energy bills which are supposedly higher because of the rising cost of gas. According to Greenpeace, there were at least 50 people blockading the road leading to Centrica’s main offices in Windsor, Berkshire. Protesters were flaunting a spoof energy bill that is said to have been 260 feet square.

Not only were protesters marching outside Centrica HQ but they also barricaded several entrances with wooden planks with real bills attached to them and at one point they were actually within the building looking to find Sam Laidlaw’s offices, the chief exec of Centrica. Their intention was to ‘redecorate’ his office by wallpapering it with energy bills.

The bottom line for these irate consumers is the fact that the average energy bill rose by as much as £150 in the previous year of which at least £100 was said to be the result of higher gas prices. Subsidies for ‘going green’ are not rising as they had been promised and the UK is more dependent than ever before on imported gas. The group wants Centrica to ‘get off gas’ and onto sustainable, renewable energy which they feel is the best way to lower bills.

Also, he has plans for energy companies in the UK which should save consumers up to £100 annually because they will now need to notify their customers if there are cheaper energy tariffs available. This is a first for the ‘Big Six’ as they will now be required to send notification to customers on cheaper rates and also on how to make the switch to those lower tariffs.

Not only will the Deputy Prime Minister rebuke his Conservative partners but he is expected to show that, contrary to what is being said, climate change is affordable even during a recession. In his words, “lean times can be green times too.” All of this controversy stems from an internal leak on just how much green energy policies will be costing consumers.

Allegedly the report claims that at least £300 will be added to power bills over the course of a year as a result of green energy. Beginning in the autumn, each of the big six companies will need to notify their customers of cheaper rates and how to get them, but for the most vulnerable of customers, the power firms will be required to notify them twice annually.

These vulnerable customers include those on the warm home discount scheme and pensioners and it is estimated that their numbers are over a million strong. As well, when a customer’s contract comes to an end, the tariffs they will be offered will be the best rates available for them.

Since the claim is that approximately 7/10 of consumers are not on the best rates yet are reluctant to change plans, it is yet unknown how these changes will actually affect consumers in the future.

The executive director of Which? wrote to the Telegraph to describe what he calls an ‘unnecessary burden’ on customers that in the end will do absolutely nothing of any good for the environment. It will certainly raise more taxes but that will be at the cost of the consumer not the companies because they will then need to raise prices accordingly to cover the penalties.

It was the hope of government when instituting these levies that companies would be incentivised to reduce their carbon emissions. However, it is often cost prohibitive to do so and when they are unable to institute changes, the penalties imposed on them further reduces profits. This is where Richard Lloyd of Which? feels the problem lies. He notes that government is, in effect, issuing a blank cheque to cover the cost of fighting climate change and this is at the expense of consumers. Lloyd goes on to say that government does not have the right to do this.

The whole issue stems from the price floor which is being set. Companies in the UK will be assessed a minimum amount to be paid for greenhouse gases they emit. This is in accordance with the EU’s rules for emissions trading. However, none of the EU countries are subjected to a price floor which watchdog groups in the UK find to be unfair.

Whether or not the Chancellor will address this issue in his Budget is anyone’s guess, but according to Which? it is something which will save UK consumers hundreds of millions of pounds annually from unfair electric price increases.

The reason energy bills will remain higher is because last year customers saw a 19pc increase which still leaves bills 14% higher than in 2010. To show the difference, the average customer’s household energy bill in 2010 came in at £1,037 whilst the same amount of energy, after the cuts, will cost approximately £1,203. This information was tallied by a UK comparison site.

However, EDF disputes this information and says that the comparison site in question is not taking into account the duel fuel tariffs would drop to £1129, down from £1165. This amount results in a difference that equals less than £100 from last year.

Of the “Big Six,” EDF is the first to act on reduced costs to wholesalers in terms of cutting prices for the end user, the customer. Smaller energy suppliers are following suit and have made announcements to this effect. It is felt that others within the “Big Six” will most assuredly follow suit in an effort to decrease prices even further.

This is confirmed by a spokesperson from Energyhelpline who states that there may be a spree of price reductions to follow and he feels it will be of interest to see just how low they will be willing to go. Mark Todd, the spokesman, said that as British Gas has had higher price rises than EDF will have room for greater reductions as a result. Consumers and market analysts alike will be watching to see just how far energy suppliers will be willing to go to attract greater numbers of new customers.