My firm British Gas will scrap unfair tariffs which stop customers shopping around
The Government should also lower bills by lifting the burden of green subsidies
MANY people get confused and put off shopping around for the best energy deal.
The so-called Standard Variable Tariff – what most people’s energy bills are based on – also reduces engagement because it doesn’t have an expiry date so many people stay on it and don’t look around.
The Government is proposing to put a cap on them. Price caps don’t work and they’re not good for customers because they end up with less choice and most prices end up around the cap. In many cases, prices have gone up, not down.
We think there’s a better solution. Rather than cap them, we should scrap the Standard Variable Tariff altogether.
Everybody should have a fixed term energy deal and be offered a choice of new deals at the end of it. It will increase customer engagement, choice and result in better deals.
That’s the sort of UK energy market we want.
And we’re doing something about it.
We will be announcing seven actions we will take including sorting out our own Standard Variable Tariff, introducing no nonsense bills, and new energy deals to suit people’s changing lifestyles.
But we need actions from Government and industry watchdogs too.
We’re asking them to ban all contracts with no end date and phase out everyone’s Standard Variable Tariffs.
We’re also calling for a fairer way to pay for cleaner power generation and energy efficiency, and supporting those who have trouble paying their bills. This adds up to over £5billion a year or about £200 in the average energy bill.
We think it should be paid for another way such as through taxation.
No one likes paying more tax but having people on lower incomes paying for the huge cost of changing the energy system just isn’t fair. It should be linked to ability to pay.
We know many people don’t trust energy companies. Bills are rising, but it’s not our profits that are causing it.
For our part, we have been listening to our customers. And they have been telling us what they really want. Today, we’re putting their words into action.