Dale Vince: Energy market is 'dysfunctional'

Rising wholesale prices, government levies and the increasing cost of distribution - the main explanations used by energy companies in defence of price rises.

Four of the Big Six energy companies have announced price increases that average 9.1%, with the others expected to follow.

But some smaller energy companies are managing to keep their prices lower.

Dale Vince, founder and CEO of Ecotricity, told the Today programme's John Humphrys that his company's investment in green energy sources had helped to insure them against the increasing cost of fossil fuels.

Mr Vince said that privatisation of the energy market had "failed", blaming the plethora of tariffs, the difficulties of switching, and "inertia" on the part of customers.

Also speaking on the BBC's Today programme later in the morning, Chief Executive of E.On Tony Cocker, suggested that smaller providers have an unfair cost advantage. He said: "The small companies are exempt from a number of environmental and social obligations. Not all, but some of them."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday 30 October 2013.