Responding to the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee’s report into the Cost of Energy, Ned Hammond, Deputy Director (Customers) at Energy UK, said:
“The energy industry has been raising the alarm about record and rising customer debt for some time now. So the Committee is quite right to underline the importance of tackling the extent of the debt problem to help those customers who have fallen into severe difficulties and because bad debt is ultimately recouped from everyone’s bills.
“But we also need to tackle one of the primary causes of rising energy debt – a prolonged period of high bills. While we need to invest in the country’s future energy needs, these costs need to be fairly allocated and we must reduce the current burden on both households and businesses – which is why we’ve been calling for some of the current policy costs to be removed from electricity bills. We welcome the Committee’s recommendations on enhancing data sharing and improving targeted support which would also help make bills more affordable for those customers in most need.
“With that in mind, some of the Committee’s suggestions around the Ombudsman, back-billing and standing charges have the potential to increase supplier costs and therefore bills – so there needs to be clear rationale for such changes when customer satisfaction with suppliers is at a record level according to Ofgem and Citizens Advice.“