Page 8 - Gi_September2021

industry & Government news

UK TO TRIAL AUTOMATIC ENERGY

BILL SWITCHING SYSTEM

HOUSEHOLDS PAYING expensive will enable the cap to continue beyond
standard tariffs for gas and electricity 2023 if needed, meaning consumers
are to be automatically moved on to a who do not shop around or opt out of
cheaper deal as the government moves any future automatic switching system
to tackle “rip off” bills. would still be shielded. The warm home
The Department for Business, discount scheme, which gives low income
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) households a £140 discount on their bill,
has said that an automatic switching would also run until 2026, it said.
system will be trialled in 2024. The AUTOMATED SWITCHING ENSURES “An automatic switching system
scheme is intended to eliminate the HOUSEHOLDS GET THE BEST DEALS would ensure households get a fair deal,
“loyalty penalty” in which longstanding while new price cap legislation will
customers end up on the most on expensive default energy tariffs enable continued protection until we’re
expensive tariffs if they fail to act when being switched to a better value confident the market is sufficiently
their deal ends, reports The Guardian. plan unless they choose to opt out. competitive,” Kwarteng said.
More Britons are shopping around Ministers also hope it will mean more An estimated 5.8 million households
for the cheapest tariffs, but Business consumers switch to tariffs powered switched energy supplier last year,
Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, said the by renewable electricity. making savings worth an average of
“existence of better deals on the The government said the energy price £290, but research by the regulator
market is not sufficient in itself to cap, introduced in 2019 to protect the Ofgem suggests less than half of UK
drive consumer behaviour”. 15 million households on default tariffs, households regularly shop around for a
The trial will involve households would also be extended. New legislation better energy deal.

ALMOST 400,000 MORE UK HOMES HEADING “be disastrous for the millions on the
brink of fuel poverty”. Francis added
FOR FUEL POVERTY, CAMPAIGNERS SAY that many were “still reeling from the
increases in bills caused by stay-at-
home lockdown measures for the last
18 months”.
“Any price rise – however small
– will mean the choice between
heating or eating becomes even
starker later this year,” he said. “If
that wasn’t bad enough, fuel poverty
can make respiratory illnesses worse
– meaning conditions such as Covid
may be exacerbated by living in cold,
damp homes.”
A standard gas and electricity bill
is expected to climb to an average
of £1,250 a year this winter after
A STANDARD GAS AND ELECTRICITY BILL IS EXPECTED a dramatic surge in global energy
TO CLIMB TO AN AVERAGE OF £1,250 A YEAR
markets, which has forced gas prices
ALMOST 400,000 UK households could additional 40,000 homes may fall into across Europe to record highs.
be pushed into fuel poverty this winter the fuel poverty category. The energy regulator, Ofgem, is
as energy bills climb by almost 10 per The warning comes as energy expected to raise the maximum rate
cent as a result of rising gas market experts raised concern that the at which suppliers can charge homes
prices. At least three million homes average dual fuel energy bill could using standard variable energy tariffs –
in the UK are already thought to be jump by an average of £112 a year affecting 15 million homes – based on
unable to afford their energy bills, and from October if the energy regulator’s the costs faced by energy suppliers.
the number in fuel poverty could grow price cap is reset at its highest ever But even households that have
by 392,000 within the coming months. level after record gas market prices. shopped around for a cheaper energy
Fuel poverty campaigners have Simon Francis, the coordinator of deal are likely to pay far more this winter
warned that for every one percentage the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said a as cheap fixed-rate deals come to an end
point rise in annual energy bills, an second energy bill hike this year would and disappear from the market.

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