John Hutton, business secretary, has urged Ofgem, the energy regulator, to address the "lack of transparency" in the accounts of Britain's big companies, which he claims damages the reputation of the industry and confuses the public.

He also believes the failure of some big integrated energy companies to record separately their profits in generation and retail means potential new entrants to the market do not have the data they need, holding back competition.

Read more about UK energy transparency here.