Theresa May had wanted Ofgem to introduce a energy price cap: it said this would require new legislation and today the Prime Minister will promise to create them by capping the Standard Variable Tariff. The case for the prosecution is simple: about 70 per cent of energy users are not on cheap tariffs, but the ‘standard’ variable tariff which is about £300 more expensive than the best deals.
Competition works for those who switch, but for those who tend not to (especially the poor and the elderly) the system is demonstrably not working for them. Centrica thinks otherwise and it sponsored a podcast, which we released yesterday, where I ask its chief executive, Iain Conn, about the market. The full podcast is here and an edited transcript below:
Q: Concerns about the market have been going on for years. There have been inquiries, reviews, angst, we’ve had a Labour manifesto proposing a price cap and then a Tory party manifesto proposing a price cap.
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