Mumbai: The UK government is seriously considering a proposal to impose a windfall tax on some of the country's largest energy companies whose profits are soaring amidst ballooning energy prices.

The proposal is part of prime minister Gordon Brown's political fightback, which involves a series of fresh measures to address the charge that his government is facing.

Business secretary James Hutton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that tax policy was the domain of Chancellor Alistair Darling, who would have to "weigh up some very important considerations".

"We've got to encourage very significant investment into our power generation system over the next 10 to 15 years,'' he added.

Hutton said, although a decision may be difficult, the proposal is most likely to be come up soon as Chancellor Alistair Darling looks for ways to tackle fuel poverty in the wake of soaring prices.

Rising fuel prices have already affected the poor families that have already faced a 15 per cent hike in energy prices this year and now face further rises even as Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has made profits of almost £1 billion in the first half of this year.
 
The `Big 3' energy firms - Shell, BP and British Gas - have all recently announced multi-million-pound profits.

British Gas raised gas prices by 35 per cent and electricity tariffs by 9 per cent for its 15.9 million customers, following a 22 per cent hike in gas prices by rival EDF.

Labour Party representatives would welcome a windfall tax, the proceeds of which could be used to help the poor who are forced to spend more than 10 per cent of income on energy bills.

Hutton said it was, however, not a one-way street and the government was also considering measures aimed at encouraging significant investment in power generation systems over the next 10 to 15 years.