Crippling energy bills are YOUR fault, says Huhne as he claims families could treat themselves to a mini-break if they shopped around

Huhne's ex-wife (and THOSE penalty points) come back to haunt him at Lib Dem conference

Insensitive: Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne

Millionaire Energy Secretary Chris Huhne faced fury from consumers yesterday after appearing to blame them for a crippling rise in household bills.
Mr Huhne accused families of ‘not bothering’ to shop around to find the cheapest gas and electricity providers – at a time when every major utility company has introduced double-digit price hikes over the past year.  
Labour described his comments as ‘outrageous’, while money-saving experts said switching was overly complicated.
Mr Huhne claimed families could treat themselves to a £300 mini-break if they constantly bargain-hunted among energy companies: ‘They do not bother. They frankly spend less time shopping around for a bill that’s on average more than £1,000 a year than they would shop around for a £25 toaster,’ he said.
‘If they got that in perspective and said, “OK, we are going to spend a little bit of time shopping around,” they could save very substantial amounts of money’.  
Utility price rises have pushed the average household energy bill to almost £1,300 a year.

Energy Secretary: Chris Huhne with some of the finalists and their designs for the Pylons of the Future at the V&A in London this week

Adam Scorer, of consumer watchdog Consumer Focus, said of customers’ reluctance to shop around: ‘When many consumers look for a better deal, they will see either a thicket of tariffs that are way too complex to understand or they will see six shades of grey. 
‘This is not their fault. It is a fault of a market that is not sufficiently competitive and does not offer enough incentives for people to switch.
‘For many consumers, there are savings out there. But if people get turned off by what they see, the responsibility to sort that out lies with suppliers, regulators and Government – not just with consumers.’
Surveys have found that 60 per cent of people have never switched their supplier, saying they find the prospect daunting.

Questions: Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne

A significant number are not confident using the internet and others say they find the number of competing tariffs, offering a range of discounts, fixed prices and tie-ins, bewildering.
Although it is relatively easy for energy users to check if they can save money – via filling in a short online form – switching supplier can be a long process and involve setting up new accounts and direct-debit arrangements.
Energy watchdog Ofgem admits many consumers find the energy market ‘complex and hard to navigate’, and has announced plans to overhaul the system.
Meg Hillier, Labour’s Energy spokeswoman, said Mr Huhne’s comments demonstrated how ‘out of touch’ he was with families ¬suffering a brutal financial squeeze. ‘The energy market is an example of an unaccountable concentration of power and this Tory-led Government is still not offering a proper solution to tackle their rising costs.
‘These outrageous comments show this Government’s reluctance to take proper action on the rising cost of fuel and to stick up for hard-hit families.’

Economist: Vicky Pryce, ex-wife of Chris Huhne, leaving her London home to drive to the Lib-Dem conference in Birmingham

Mr Huhne's gaffe over energy bills came as he faced a potentially embarrassing meeting with his former wife, economist Vicky Pryce, as she headed to the Liberal Democrat Conference in Birmingham.
The presence of Ms Pryce, right, who split from Mr Huhne last year after he admitted an affair with his current partner Carina Trimingham, is particularly awkward, given he is still waiting to find out if he will be charged over claims he evaded punishment for a speeding offence by asking Ms Pryce to take penalty points for him in 2003.
Sources at Essex Police, which investigated the case over the summer and passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), say they are ‘baffled’ by the CPS’s delay in deciding whether to prosecute.
‘They keep claiming that they need more information, but they have got everything they need to make their mind up,’ one source said.
‘It’s pretty straightforward. We think they are dragging their feet to avoid clashing with the party conference season.’
A CPS source indicated a decision would be announced in mid-October.  
Despite the split from his wife of 26 years, Mr Huhne, 57, is unlikely to struggle to pay his own energy bills.
He is one of Parliament’s wealthiest MPs, with a fortune valued at more than £3 million before the separation, including two family homes and five buy-to-let investment properties.

Crescent Grove, in Clapham, South London, where Chris Huhne has a home