POWER tycoon Paul Massara sparked an outrage after claiming energy bills are sky-high because British households waste energy.

THE £600,000-a-year boss of energy giants npower was condemned by hard-up families last night after saying they were to blame for sky-high bills.

Chief executive Paul Massara, whose company’s average 10.4 per cent winter price hike was the highest of the Big Six suppliers, sparked a storm of outrage when he claimed: “Bills are high because British homes waste so much energy.”

And instead of apologising to customers for the rises, the millionaire with a three-storey 16th century mansion said ordinary households had to do more to cut costs.

Scots mum-of-one Alison Lindsay, 35, said Massara was “seriously out of touch”. And the civil servant from East Kilbride said she and husband Mark, 41, already do all they can to keep their astronomical bills down.

Alison, who has an 18-month-old son, Jake, said of Massara: “We can’t afford to be flippant with our money and I think he has been very flippant with his comments.

“These people are obviously completely out of touch with people such as myself.

“ I would love to know the last time they personally sat down and consulted single parents, young families and pensioners over their needs and struggles.

“They are misguided and he has obviously lost touch with the average person, on an average salary with an average life.”

Daily Record

Alison Lindsay with son Jake

Pensioner Cathy Leach, 70, a retired postal worker from Glasgow, said: “Energy companies are dodging and diving, and once again trying to take the onus off them and all the fantastic perks they get.

“How dare they treat people with such contempt when they are struggling?

“I go around my house switching everything off in a panic, like most people do, because they know their bills are going to be sky-high.

“For an energy boss to say people are being wasteful is absolute rubbish. What planet is he on? If I’m told to put another cardigan on or wear a woolly hat in my house, I’ll scream.”

Mark Todd, co-founder of energyhelpline.com, said: “For an energy supplier to blame customers for rocketing bills beggars belief. Suppliers have raised prices by 140 per cent in nine years while users have cut usage.

“Typical gas usage is down 34 per cent and electricity usage by three per cent, in part because many customers can no longer afford to heat their homes.

“To blame bill rises on wasteful customers is thus totally incorrect. It’s the suppliers who have put up the bills, not the customers.”

Massara said: “The actual unit price of energy in the UK is one of the lowest in Europe, but bills are high because British homes waste so much energy.

“If we can increase the efficiency of the UK’s old and draughty housing, we can ensure that annual energy bills are some of the lowest too.”

Adam Sorenson

The lights are on at npower boss Paul Massara's house

His comments come less than a week after our sister paper the Daily Mirror revealed that a fatcat who helped npower’s owners avoid millions in tax is now on the board of HM Revenue and Customs – advising the taxman.

Former npower boss Volker Beckers ran a tax avoidance operation in Malta which meant the firm paid no UK corporation tax for four years while bills rose by 55 per cent.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: “It’s hypocritical for energy companies like npower to blame households for ‘wasting’ energy and then lobby the Government to cut back on insulation schemes.

“If npower really want to help, they could always use some of their profits to improve the energy efficiency of their customers’ homes.

“If these companies want to win back customers’ trust they should admit they’ve been overcharging and back Labour’s price freeze, which will save money for 27million households and 2.4million businesses.”

And Gary Smith, national secretary for energy at the GMB union, said: “Npower are in crisis. They’re sacking thousands of workers across the UK, offshoring other jobs and their credit rating is going down the pan. Yet this company seem to think it is fine to use customers as a scapegoat for their problems.

“Some of the poorest people in this country live in private rented accommodation, yet there isn’t enough pressure on landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

“But instead of trying to improve their lot, npower seem happy to blame them. They are a disgrace.”

Massara’s “don’t blame us” message over rising bills has been touted repeatedly by his company.

Npower have claimed more than half of Britain’s homes are wasting money by “allowing expensive heat to escape through walls and roofs”.

They said they controlled less than 20 per cent of customers’ bills, made “no hidden profits” and had a profit margin of 3.2 per cent in the first nine months of 2013.

They also complained that Government regulations on energy would add £308 to bills by 2020.

Their report, Energy Explained, was slammed by regulator Ofgem, who said it contained “incorrect and misleading” figures on the cost of the UK’s energy supply network.

In October, Massara claimed on the npower website that 84 per cent of the retail price of energy was “outside our control”.

The firm were then accused of censoring comments on the site from angry customers, one of whom told Massara he was “full of it”.

Npower have increased gas prices by 39.6 per cent, and electricity prices by 34.3 per cent, since October 2010.

They announced a 2.6 per cent price cut this month after the Government reduced green levies on bills. They were the last of the Big Six to agree to pass on the cuts.