Greg Jackson told LBC that the oil and gas price spike is down to Britain's dependence on foreign nations for energy
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Octopus CEO has warned that oil and gas price spikes like the one caused by the onset of the Iran war will keep on hitting Britain while it is reliant on foreign nations for energy.
Greg Jackson, the head of the energy company, said that the Iran war is the latest reason that Britain should reduce its dependency on foreign powers for fuel.
After Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the Commons that the UK is "less exposed" than others nations to the price spike for fossil fuels, Mr Jackson agreed.
He told LBC's Drive with Tom Swarbrick: "We're partway there. A lot of the energy we use now is generated by our own renewables.
"But because our electricity price is still set by the price of gas, most of the time we're not as protected as we'd like to be.
"The answer is, by the way, we need to reduce our dependency on gas by building more of the renewables, but do it cheaply so we bring bills down in the short term as well as insulate ourselves.
"In the short term, people are protected by the price cap, and bills are going to go down on April 1 for most people because the Government cut some of the taxes. And right now, I think what matters is if this conflict goes on for a long time, people will see the impacts on bills. If it's shorter, we do at least have that buffer."
On Monday, Brent crude soared by 17 per cent to more than $108 a barrel, having at one stage reached nearly $120 a barrel for the first time since 2022.
The prices have rocketed above $100-a-barrel for the first time in nearly four years as the escalating conflict in Iran sparks a mounting crude supply crisis.
It follows Iran’s move to name the son of its late supreme leader and a hardliner in charge as the war spreads further across the Middle East, with Iran targeting regional energy infrastructure and blocking the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is carried.
After being pressed on the latest energy crisis engulfing the world, Mr Jackson said: "These are going to keep happening for as long as we're dependent on oil and gas from other countries.
"I think that it's not as bad as the Russian one yet. This is bad. It's serious, but it's not yet in the same league.
"Now, you will remember that in the last crisis, prices got so high that the Government had to subsidise everybody's electricity bills. I know they've got a watching brief, but we're not in that territory yet."