Bosses at the UK's six big energy firms today faced questions from MPs about recent price rises. So far, four out of the six - British Gas, Npower, SSE and Scottish Power - have announced increases for the winter.
"It's excellent that senior executives are 'facing the music' before MPs today, but what we need on energy policy is not uncomfortable squirms but effective action", commented Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett.
"MPs are right to ask why energy prices have gone up by 9% on average when wholesale gone up by 1.7% this year, but what we really need are answers as to how we can have affordable energy bills in future, warm comfortable homes and an energy industry that provides a range of jobs and economic opportunities for Britain.
"That means we need a serious focus on energy conservation, particularly home insulation, to end the scandal exposed today by the Children Society of the more than half of the 3 million children living in poverty who say their home is uncomfortably cold, and the 26% who say their home suffers from mould or damp.
"We need to look to renewable energy, wind, solar and eventually tidal, in community ownership, giving returns to local communities, with the cost of the 'fuel' - nothing - being fixed in perpetuity. That's in contrast to George Osborne's enthusiasm for a 'dash for gas', which would lock British households into a high-cost volatile energy future.
"And we need to provide a secure investment environment that could see the development of the renewable energy manufacturing sector, particularly in off-shore wind, where we can build on the skills and experiences of the now dying North Sea oil industry to harness our rich wind resources."