Yesterday, Henry Smith MP welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to mitigating the impact of rising household fuel bills by introducing measures through the Energy Bill which will be going through Parliament shortly.

Commenting on rising energy prices, Henry said:

“This is a matter that I have today raised on the floor of House of Commons on behalf of Crawley constituents and I was pleased to get assurances from the Energy Minister that the main six energy suppliers will be called in for a meeting regarding the need to reduce their tariffs. 

“This Government has committed itself to using the Energy Bill to get people the lowest tariffs. Energy companies should provide information on energy bills that clearly show customers whether they are on the cheapest tariff offered by their energy company – and if they are not, then they should show exactly how much they would save if they switched to the cheapest tariff as well as how they can do so.

“I understand that ministers will secure our energy at the lowest cost: in the short term by promoting competition; in the medium term by insulating our homes and in the long term by steering us away from excessive reliance on fossil fuels and on to clean, green and secure energy.”

Measures being adopted by the Government to tackle rising energy bills also include: 

• Making it easier for consumers to switch suppliers which can save up to £200 per year;
• Continuing to invest in better home insulation - four million of the most vulnerable energy customers have received letters telling them that they are eligible for free or heavily-discounted insulation to their loft or cavity walls, provided by the energy suppliers;
• Introducing the Warm Homes Discount which ensure that the poorest 600,000 pensioners will automatically received an annual rebate on their energy bills worth £130, with some support available for other groups. It is projected that 2 million households a year will benefit;
• Persevering the winter fuel payment, something which Labour is planning to cut;
• Boosting Cold Weather Payments by an extra £50 million a year, ensuring that the increase to £25 per payment is made permanent;
• Delivering energy efficiency through the Green Deal ensuring that British homes and businesses will be able to install packages of energy-saving technologies, such as insulation, worth up to £10,000 and at no upfront cost, with repayments made over time out of the energy savings;
• Forcing landlords to meet minimum energy standards (above ‘E’ energy efficiency rating standards); and
• Breaking up the dominance of the ‘Big Six’ energy providers with Ofgem developing proposals for ‘Mandatory Auctions’ to force them to sell 25 per cent of their power.

Some energy providers such as British Gas are offering anyone, customer or no customer, free loft and wall cavity insulation subject to certain limited conditions – for further information please follow this link. 

Continuing, Henry said:

“I’ve also recently called on Ofgem, the energy regulator, to take urgent action to protect small businesses from unfair practices being adopted by energy suppliers.  

“Current regulations allow suppliers to back-bill retailers and other small businesses for six years’ worth of incorrect bills, even when the supplier is at fault. I am supporting a campaign by ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) to reduce this to twelve months, in line with protections for domestic customers. A recent survey of independent retailers showed that 36 percent have been overcharged in the past year, while more than 1 in 4 had received back bills from suppliers.”