Ofgem, the energy regulator, has announced that a plan is on its way to tackle energy bills and relieve the burden on the most vulnerable energy customers in the UK. But will it be enough?
Today the energy regulator has outlined proposals to deliver a fairer, more competitive energy market that will help around two million customers on low incomes.
Update: 7 August 2018
This weekend, the government announced an independent review of energy costs.
The entire electricity supply chain will be under scrutiny as the independent review seeks to uncover ways of reducing costs and meet the government’s ambition of achieving the lowest energy bills in Europe while meeting climate targets.
The review, led by energy expert Professor Dieter Helm CBE, will build on commitments made in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper and include the role of innovative technologies like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. Although a step in the right direction, the time for action on energy bills is now.
Our managing director of home products Alex Neill said: ‘It is right to look at how to keep costs down, but yet another review is going to be cold comfort to the millions overpaying on their energy bills right now.’
So far half a million people have backed our campaign for fair energy prices. We want to see urgent action from the government and regulator to tackle the lack of competition in the energy market and ensure all consumers get a good deal on their energy prices.
Ofgem’s plan
While the regulator has announced the plans to deliver a fairer energy market, it hasn’t yet published the full details.
The regulator has proposed a new ‘safeguard tariff’ specifically for vulnerable customers and it plans to hold a summit in July to consider which ‘safeguard’ tariff’ would be best. One option would be to increase the existing cap for four million households on prepayment meters to include those who receive the Warm Home Discount.
Some of you will recall that earlier this year we pressed for action from energy companies to tackle their often poor value standard variable tariffs. Today, the regulator noted that energy companies must do more to help customers who are stuck on these tariffs switch to a better deal. The regulator will announce reforms to improve energy switching services.
The regulator also announced a proposed cap for charges to install pre-payment meters under a warrant, and ban these charges altogether for the most vulnerable energy customers.
But, the plans announced today fall short of the Prime Minister’s aim to help 17 million families on those often poor value standard variable tariffs with an industry-wide price cap, as outlined in the Conservative’s manifesto. The policy to tackle energy bills with a price cap was also lacking from the Queen’s Speech on 21 June.
Energy bills
While we welcome the plans to help the most vulnerable as well as steps to make switching easier, will these plans go far enough to help the millions in the UK are overpaying for their energy?
We believe that any price cap intervention in the energy market should first consider our five test points before implementing:
1. It must not cause longer-term price increases
2. It must not remove incentives for providers to improve their service
3. It must not stifle innovation
4. It must lead to a truly competitive energy market
5. It must have clear criteria for bringing any cap to an end
Ofgem will be consulting on its proposals and we’ll be feeding in to this.
Do you think Ofgem’s planned interventions will be enough to deliver a fairer energy market that finally works for all consumers?
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