Energy price cap that could save millions of Brits £100 promised by the Tories in a victory for the Sun

AN ENERGY price cap that could save millions of Brits £100 was promised by the Tories in a huge victory for the Sun.

Senior Ministers said Theresa May’s Election Manifesto would reveal plans for an unprecedented piece of regulation to smash the Big Six.

And the Sun can reveal she will also vow action against rip-off telecom companies and insurers as part of a consumer blitz when the Conservative charter is issued on May 8.

Under the energy price cap, Theresa May would ask regulator Ofgem to limit the amount the Big Six can charge for gas and electricity on standard variable tariffs – tariffs used by seven out of ten homes in Britain.

Furious British Gas boss Iain Conn threatened to slash investment in retaliation and said it would customer service WORSE.

But Tory veteran Michael Gove branded the Big Six a “cartel”, and Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said they had been “exploiting” customers for too long.

He said: “People feel that some of the big energy companies have taken advantage of them with the tariffs they’ve got.

“We do think that the energy market isn’t working properly and we do want to change the way it operates. You’ll be seeing all the details in our Manifesto.”

He added there was a huge difference to the cap and the two year ‘freeze proposed by former Labour leader Ed Miliband in 2013.

At the time David Cameron accused the Labour leader of wanting to “live in a Marxist universe”.

But Mr Green said the price cap would be “much more sensitive to movements in the market” – and could go down when oil prices move.

The Sun has led the way in demanding a fair deal on energy bills, and in October we revealed customers on standard variable tariffs are paying as much as £389 more than those on the same firms’ best deals.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said the Government had a “duty to act” – and slammed energy giants for milking loyal customers who hadn’t switched.

We revealed in February ministers were considering the “nuclear option” of a regulated tariff amid fury at eye-watering hikes by five of the Big Six.

Last week Greg Clark promised a “muscular” response after EDF announced their second price hike of the year, but in January Ofgem insisted price hikes were unjustifiable.

Mr Conn said that Government was to blame for £250 of the £273 increase in average bills since 2007 – through regulatory costs and green levies.

He said: “Increases have been because of the costs of changing the energy system and policy costs, not profiteering from suppliers.”