The chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement that the domestic energy bills are to be looked in to by the Government to make sure they are fair to all. It cannot come a day too soon….and no doubt it will not be soon at all.
The company’s tell us that they are making minuscule profits on our energy bills because they have historically used the cheapest tariffs for their calculations. They could then say their profits were only 4% on a typical customer. But if they used the standard variable rate it would be much higher.
And all this was without taking into account the profits made by the parent companies for charging very high wholesale rates to the customer-facing businesses.
Profits will not be hit
Maybe this time the Competition and Markets Authority will get to the bottom of the charging structures and the internal markets. But the energy industry is already acting to ensure that its profits are not hit in the name of fairness.
Currently customers on standard variable rates pay around £200 a year more than those who took out a fixed rate last year or at the beginning of this year. But anyone seeking to move from one of those fixed rates as they come to an end will find that the latest fixes are around £200 more expensive. That is if they can get a quote.
Sexism and a big price hike
When I called my supplier today the call-centre operative initially refused to tell me about the new tariffs available because the account is in my husband’s name. It took him a good few minutes to find out if he could talk to a”wife”. Maybe he was not sexist but just did not want to admit how lousy the options are now.
The new fixed electricity tariff would be £668 – a giddy £12 less than the standard variable one and the gas would be £550 – £17 less than the standard variable. Both are more than £250 than the tariff taken out in February.
Looks like the tariffs will be equally unfair to all and much more expensive as we go into the expensive months.