Suppliers welcome David Cameron's energy competition and green tax reviews SSE said that "a balanced audit of competition in the market should be a useful additional step towards building customers" trust." EDF Energy chief Vincent de Rivaz went even further in a speech earlier this month, saying a competition review by the new CMA would be "more timely than ever." To restore public trust, we must demonstrate that we are acting fairly. To do this, transparency is vital," he said. We have nothing to hide. Suppliers including SSE and E.On have called for green levies to be moved off bills and paid for through general taxation instead. British Gas owner Centrica and SSE have also been lobbying for a watering-down of the government's 'Energy Company Obligation" (Eco) efficiency scheme, which forces them to help vulnerable customers by insulating their homes. The suppliers have blamed Eco costs for recent price increases. But the Renewable Energy Association reacted with alarm to the Prime Minister's comments on rolling back green taxes. Dr Nina Skorupska, REA chief executive, said: "David Cameron must clarify which levies he is looking to roll back and how, or risk severely undermining investor confidence at a time when this country desperately needs investment in new low carbon capacity. Renewables are the only low carbon options on the table to bridge the near term capacity crunch, which will bite well before new nuclear or shale gas come on-stream. "Renewables policy makes up only 3pc of average bills overall and less than a third of the Government's 'green levies," so politicians and the media are simply wrong to say that green energy is to blame for pushing up bills. It is the ever-increasing cost of gas which has been the main cause of rising bills in recent months and years. With more energy-efficient homes and more home-grown renewables we become less exposed to these volatile gas markets. An energy department spokesman attempted to calm the sector's fears, insisting: "No one is talking about changing support for large-scale renewables or Feed in Tariffs, which are essential for investor confidence in the renewables sector and our commitments to a low-carbon economy." Meanwhile, analysts at Citigroup calculated that the energy suppy industry could face an extra £800m in annual costs if the Conservatives were to implement former Prime Minister John Major's suggestion of a windfall tax on energy suppliers in a cold winter. Analyst Robert Coates said that extreme cold winters had previously seen the government pay an extra £600m in 'winter fuel payments' and between £133m and £430m in 'cold weather payments'. "If the UK saw an extended cold period this winter and the government chose to take John Major's advice and attempted to recover the cost of additional payments to consumers under these schemes, the industry could face an incremental cost of c.£800m," he said. The fact that the government already intervenes in the energy market with support payments totaling £2-3bn would indicate that energy costs are already approaching unsustainable levels. In our view unless the UK government makes structural changes to current policy, we may see similar anti-industry actions as seen elsewhere in Europe. He called for "changes to energy efficiency schemes that would remove the costs from consumer bills, fund the costs from the carbon floor tax proceeds and in turn boost high street spending."