Energy regulator Ofgem has today announced its quarterly update for average household bills and has raised the energy price cap by about 21% for the period 1 January – 31 March 2023.

Ofgem raises energy price cap by over 20% for average household bills

Public debate on how to cook pasta and save on surging energy costs is sparking outrage among Italian cooks. It has divided Italians, with a majority saying that cooking pasta without a burning flame is criminal. Eric Njoka tells you more.

WION Fineprint | Soaring energy costs bite pasta lovers in Italy

Energy giant Shell has decided to give its workers a one-off bonus of eight percent. This comes as a result of the profit that the company recorded from high oil and gas prices. Shell has made it clear that the award is a reflection of its financial gains and has got nothing to do with the rising cost of living. The company reported second quarter profits of nine billion last week. Nearly 82,000 members of Shell’s staff worldwide will get this pay boost up and the top executives will be excluded from these benefits.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bp-profit-triples-to-93-bn-on-soaring-energy-prices-502930">BP profit triples to $9.3&nbsp;bn on soaring energy prices</a>

The war in Ukraine has contributed to this profit by fuelling higher prices of oil and gas. Russia has reduced supplies to Europe following the war and the disruption thereof has led to soaring wholesale prices of oil and gas. This, in turn has passed the costs on customers by increasing the energy bills. Thus,&nbsp;&nbsp;it has increased the profits of the firm. Not only Shell but its rival BP has also reported a record breaking high quarterly profits.&nbsp;

As reported by BBC, the company has said that "the award enables those employees to share in our current operational and financial success - it is not a response to inflation or cost-of-living challenges”.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/developing-countries-facing-major-food-inflation-due-to-ukraine-crisis-says-world-bank-502744">Developing countries facing major food inflation due to Ukraine crisis, says World Bank</a>

Around 5,000 of Shell's representatives in Britain are in line to profit from the reward. However, 1,200 employees of Shell Energy Retail- a loss-making household supply unit, will not receive the bonuses. Shell has likewise said it would return billions of dollars to its investors subsequent to its quarterly monetary profits last month.

Watch |&nbsp;Gas ban imposed as Latvian firm was paying in Euros to Russia&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gas-ban-imposed-as-latvian-firm-was-paying-in-euros-to-russia-502445/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">&nbsp;</div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">Though various oil and gas companies are benefiting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for oil and gas companies to face special taxes, calling it “immoral” for firms to be profiting from the Ukraine war. Further, he added that "This grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only common home”.&nbsp;</div>

(With inputs from agencies)

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Energy giant Shell has decided to give its workers a one-off bonus of eight percent. This comes as a result of the profit that the company recorded from high oil and gas prices.

Energy giant Shell has decided to give its workers a one-off bonus of eight percent. This comes as a result of the profit that the company recorded from high oil and gas prices. Shell has made it clear that the award is a reflection of its financial gains and has got nothing to do with the rising cost of living. The company reported second quarter profits of nine billion last week. Nearly 82,000 members of Shell’s staff worldwide will get this pay boost up and the top executives will be excluded from these benefits. Also read | BP profit triples to $9.3 bn on soaring energy prices The war in Ukraine has contributed to this profit by fuelling higher prices of oil and gas. Russia has reduced supplies to Europe following the war and the disruption thereof has led to soaring wholesale prices of oil and gas. This, in turn has passed the costs on customers by increasing the energy bills. Thus, it has increased the profits of the firm. Not only Shell but its rival BP has also reported a record breaking high quarterly profits. As reported by BBC, the company has said that "the award enables those employees to share in our current operational and financial success - it is not a response to inflation or cost-of-living challenges”. Also read | Developing countries facing major food inflation due to Ukraine crisis, says World Bank Around 5,000 of Shell's representatives in Britain are in line to profit from the reward. However, 1,200 employees of Shell Energy Retail- a loss-making household supply unit, will not receive the bonuses. Shell has likewise said it would return billions of dollars to its investors subsequent to its quarterly monetary profits last month. Watch | Gas ban imposed as Latvian firm was paying in Euros to Russia Though various oil and gas companies are benefiting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for oil and gas companies to face special taxes, calling it “immoral” for firms to be profiting from the Ukraine war. Further, he added that "This grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only common home”. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Shell staff benefits from soaring energy bills

Inflation in the 19 countries of the eurozone soared to 8.1% in May from 7.4% in April. Rising prices have been exacerbated over recent months by the war in Ukraine, particularly food and energy costs.

Eurozone inflation hits record 8.1% amid rising food and energy costs

Japan's core consumer prices rose 0.2% in June from a year earlier to mark the fastest annual pace in over a year, in a sign that the impact of global commodity inflation was gradually broadening.

World Business Watch: Japan's core inflation hits 15-month high on energy costs

Pedro and Mohamed await every utility bill with much angst. To reduce the money they have to pay, they live in the dark, without heating, or shower just once a week -- victims like millions in Spain of energy poverty.

Welfare associations have for years warned against this situation, but the death earlier this month of 81-year-old Rosa in a fire caused by a candle she used for light has brought the issue firmly to the fore. Socialist lawmaker Pilar Lucio asked the ruling conservative government to immediately implement a &quot;winter truce&quot; on companies cutting power to those who cannot pay -- a measure with majority support in parliament and encouraged in a 2009 EU directive.

Last year, according to Spain&#39;s National Statistics Institute, 10.6 per cent of Spaniards were unable to properly heat their homes -- or more than four million people -- compared to just 5.9 per cent in 2008, when an economic crisis kicked off. At fault are the economic crisis and widespread loss of jobs it caused, as well as a 30- to 50-per cent rise in utility prices since 2006.

&nbsp;

&quot;Luxury&quot; items

Pedro Martinez, 48, has been in this situation for several years. Unemployed since 2013, when the furniture company he was working for closed, he survives on a pension of 426 euros ($450) a month, and what remains of the compensation he received for being fired.

Divorced, he lives with his 20-year-old son and 23-year-old mentally impaired daughter in a working-class district of Barcelona, without heating and using electric light only when absolutely necessary.

&quot;It&#39;s tough in winter. We just have an electric heater, which we rarely switch on for fear of the bill,&quot; he says. &quot;The cold chills you to the bone. We wear coats and at night we use all the blankets we have.&quot;

Tere Bermudez, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic charity Caritas, says that &quot;for many families, water, light and gas are luxury items&quot;. She says that from 2007 to 2015, the organisation multiplied by 30 the number of utility bills it helped pay.

One of its beneficiaries is Mohamed Chairi, a 37-year-old Moroccan. Unemployed, his family lives off the monthly 250 euros from his wife&#39;s cleaning work as well as help from charities. &quot;We shower once a week, on Fridays, so that the kids are clean at the weekend,&quot; the father-of-three says.

In the corner of the living room of his small flat in Badalona near Barcelona, his youngest son plays with a broken electric radiator. Chairi has just received his electricity bill -- 24 euros for the month, a small sum for Spain but huge for him. &quot;The rent alone is 440 euros,&quot; he says. &quot;If I have to suffer from hunger or go without light or water, I don&#39;t care, but the kids...&quot;.

&nbsp;

Burning canvas shoes

According to the European Commission, Spain&#39;s gas and electricity prices were the third and fourth highest respectively in the European Union last year. &quot;We are above the European average (in terms of fuel poverty) despite having much better weather,&quot; says Jose Luis Lopez, spokesman for the Association of Environmental Science. There is no nationwide law on the issue, but several regions have implemented measures to try and address it.

In the northeastern region of Catalonia, for instance, a law stipulates that utility companies must notify social services before cutting electricity or gas, and if the family or person struggling to pay is classified as vulnerable, they are banned from doing so. But the law is not always respected, as was the case for Rosa, with utility firm Gas Natural acknowledging it had not contacted social services.

Lopez estimates that some 7,100 people die every year due to fuel poverty. Firefighters in Catalonia have also warned of the security risks involved.

&quot;We have come across people heating themselves with small fires made from newspapers or even canvas shoes,&quot; said union spokesman Antonio del Rio. Spain may be emerging from the crisis, but at least 600,000 households saw their electricity supply cut off last year, according to the Facua consumer association.

&quot;There&#39;s a lot of talk about recovery, but on the street you don&#39;t see it anywhere,&quot; said Pedro Martinez.

(AFP)

The economic crisis, widespread job loss and the soaring costs of energy have all conspired to put millions in Spain into energy poverty

Pedro and Mohamed await every utility bill with much angst. To reduce the money they have to pay, they live in the dark, without heating, or shower just once a week -- victims like millions in Spain of energy poverty. Welfare associations have for years warned against this situation, but the death earlier this month of 81-year-old Rosa in a fire caused by a candle she used for light has brought the issue firmly to the fore. Socialist lawmaker Pilar Lucio asked the ruling conservative government to immediately implement a "winter truce" on companies cutting power to those who cannot pay -- a measure with majority support in parliament and encouraged in a 2009 EU directive. Last year, according to Spain's National Statistics Institute, 10.6 per cent of Spaniards were unable to properly heat their homes -- or more than four million people -- compared to just 5.9 per cent in 2008, when an economic crisis kicked off. At fault are the economic crisis and widespread loss of jobs it caused, as well as a 30- to 50-per cent rise in utility prices since 2006. "Luxury" items Pedro Martinez, 48, has been in this situation for several years. Unemployed since 2013, when the furniture company he was working for closed, he survives on a pension of 426 euros ($450) a month, and what remains of the compensation he received for being fired. Divorced, he lives with his 20-year-old son and 23-year-old mentally impaired daughter in a working-class district of Barcelona, without heating and using electric light only when absolutely necessary. "It's tough in winter. We just have an electric heater, which we rarely switch on for fear of the bill," he says. "The cold chills you to the bone. We wear coats and at night we use all the blankets we have." Tere Bermudez, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic charity Caritas, says that "for many families, water, light and gas are luxury items". She says that from 2007 to 2015, the organisation multiplied by 30 the number of utility bills it helped pay. One of its beneficiaries is Mohamed Chairi, a 37-year-old Moroccan. Unemployed, his family lives off the monthly 250 euros from his wife's cleaning work as well as help from charities. "We shower once a week, on Fridays, so that the kids are clean at the weekend," the father-of-three says. In the corner of the living room of his small flat in Badalona near Barcelona, his youngest son plays with a broken electric radiator. Chairi has just received his electricity bill -- 24 euros for the month, a small sum for Spain but huge for him. "The rent alone is 440 euros," he says. "If I have to suffer from hunger or go without light or water, I don't care, but the kids...". Burning canvas shoes According to the European Commission, Spain's gas and electricity prices were the third and fourth highest respectively in the European Union last year. "We are above the European average (in terms of fuel poverty) despite having much better weather," says Jose Luis Lopez, spokesman for the Association of Environmental Science. There is no nationwide law on the issue, but several regions have implemented measures to try and address it. In the northeastern region of Catalonia, for instance, a law stipulates that utility companies must notify social services before cutting electricity or gas, and if the family or person struggling to pay is classified as vulnerable, they are banned from doing so. But the law is not always respected, as was the case for Rosa, with utility firm Gas Natural acknowledging it had not contacted social services. Lopez estimates that some 7,100 people die every year due to fuel poverty. Firefighters in Catalonia have also warned of the security risks involved. "We have come across people heating themselves with small fires made from newspapers or even canvas shoes," said union spokesman Antonio del Rio. Spain may be emerging from the crisis, but at least 600,000 households saw their electricity supply cut off last year, according to the Facua consumer association. "There's a lot of talk about recovery, but on the street you don't see it anywhere," said Pedro Martinez. (AFP)

Light, water, heat a luxury in Spain

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