Climate economist William Yu on Wednesday urged the government to act to make sure the two local power firms do more to source cheap natural gas supplies in future to mitigate soaring global energy prices.

Power bills for Hong Kong Electric and CLP Power are set to rise by 45 and 20 percent respectively in January compared to a year earlier.

Yu – the CEO of the World Green Organisation – told RTHK’s Hong Kong Today programme that the firms need to look worldwide for cheaper energy.

“Hopefully we can have some liquefied natural gas (LNG) that we can find at a cheaper price if we allow a global search, and I think the government should pay more effort to supervise two utilities to do the fuel search at a lower price,” he said.

Yu also said Hong Kong needs to further diversify its energy sources to ensure energy security for the future.

“I think Hong Kong should search for alternative renewable energy from different regions… in order to avoid putting all eggs in one basket we better have multiple sources,” Yu said.