National Energy Action (NEA) has responded to Ofgem’s decision to not lower the level of the standing charge.
The standing charge is paid by energy customers regardless of how much energy they use.
Peter Smiths, NEA’s director of policy and advocacy, said: “There is significant public concern around how high standing charges are. Tens of thousands of individuals and organisations responded to Ofgem’s consultation in support of reform. All major political parties made promises in their manifestos to reduce standing charges. And while trade-offs need to be carefully studied, Ofgem has had over a year to consider how to make the system fairer. The lack of any significant reform is therefore extremely disappointing.
“Households that use prepayment meters are particularly impacted by the continuation of high standing charges. When their credit has been used up, standing charges accrue as a debt on the meter that must be cleared in full before accessing energy again. We know that the higher standing charges are, the longer households are needlessly left without being able to use energy. While several options to better protect prepayment meter households have been identified, Ofgem has opted to do nothing, leaving vulnerable households in often dire situations.”