In the News - Energy Prices

Ofgem launches consultation on unfair energy pricing

On Friday, the energy industry's regulator, Ofgem launched a consultation on unfair energy pricing (reported in 'In the News' on 16 Dec 08).

Ofgem is proposing to put rules in place to ensure that:

1. charges for different payment methods reflect that actual cost of administering these methods

2. companies provide a benchmark tariff for different deals, on which they can charge an Ofgem-controlled amount for different payment methods (i.e. the cost for different payment methods will be transparent and regulated)

3. companies cannot unduly discriminate by preventing access to deals because of a customer's individual circumstances

4. companies cannot cross-subsidise between gas and electricity, which unfairly penalises those who cannot have a gas supply.

The consultation will last until 20 Feb 09. These proposals emerged following Ofgem's 2008 industry probe. For more information on this and some of your thoughts on the energy industry, take a look at Get Smarter: Plebble's Guide to Energy Providers.

Posted by Plebble Admin at 10:08 on 12-Jan-2009