Ministers are considering an overhaul to the UK's electricity trading market in a bid to ward-off a growing financial crisis in the sector.

Energy minister, Brian Wilson, indicated that the New Electricity Trading Agreements - introduced just 15 months ago to open up markets to competition - had pushed down the wholesale price of electricity, with British Energy, the main power generator, hit by the high costs of nuclear energy.

Electricity watchdog, Ofgem, has defended the pricing system.