Fleeced by the power giants: Gas, electricity and oil prices plunge - but your energy bills are STILL higher than ever



Power companies are under increasing pressure to pass on the benefit of the plummeting price of oil.



Watchdogs are angry that domestic energy bills have continued to rise sharply since the summer even though wholesale prices have nearly halved.



Millions of families are desperate for gas, electricity and heating oil bills to fall as their household incomes are squeezed elsewhere.



Energy firms are under increasing pressure to pass on the benefit of falling oil prices by cutting household bills (file picture)

Despite falling inflation, families still face rising food costs and hefty council tax increases next spring.



And pensioners, who already spend a major proportion of their cash on heating their homes, are seeing their savings income slashed by interest rate cuts.



Yesterday oil closed at below 45 dollars a barrel, more than 100 dollars below its July peak, and experts predict that it could drop as low as 25 dollars.



David Hunter, of energy consultants McKinnon & Clarke, said the 'big six' firms - British Gas, E.ON, Scottish Power, Scottish & Southern, EDF Energy, and npower - enjoy a 'stranglehold' on the power market, and claimed: 'The market isn't working.'



Motorists have been paying less for petrol in recent weeks as the price of oil has plummeted

He insisted the firms should have room for 'double digit' cuts as soon as next month.



Mr Hunter said: 'It is clear there will be room for reductions in prices, and there will be huge political pressure for them to act.'



Gas and electricity prices are inextricably linked to the price of oil, and utilities say it takes time to pass on lower wholesale costs to customers because they buy power and gas several months in advance.



But the cost of wholesale gas and electricity has tracked the fall in oil prices.



Robert Hammond of Consumer Focus, the new body set up by the Government to fight for consumer rights, said: 'With the continued drop in wholesale prices, we have called on suppliers to lower prices without delay or explain why they won't.



'Where there is clear evidence of companies not passing through price reductions to consumers when they should, the regulator must take firm and swift action against the offending suppliers.'



But Garry Felgate, chief executive of the Energy Retail Association, said: 'The gas and electricity markets are still very volatile and there needs to be a sustained period of lower wholesale prices before the energy suppliers can reduce prices.'



A spokesman for British Gas parent Centrica said the firm may cut prices in the spring.



The oil price fall has meant motorists in the UK are now seeing the lowest prices at the pumps since March 2007.



Asda recently slashed a further 1p a litre off its fuel prices, leaving the cost of a litre of petrol at 88.9p.



However diesel still costs up to 15p a litre more than petrol at the pumps.



AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: 'Diesel car owners are very angry, particularly those who bought their cars recently to benefit from the greater fuel efficiency over petrol and cut their costs.'



The Road Haulage Association has written to the Office of Fair Trading to request an investigation into the continuing high price of diesel.

