Thursday 26 October 2017
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee is seeking views on the government’s draft energy price cap legislation.
It is inviting written submissions on a number of topics including the government’s objective of the bill, i.e. “protecting customers until the conditions for effective competition in this market are in place”.
Others include whether it should be an absolute cap, if it should be only on standard variable tariffs and default tariffs, if it should have the same impact on all suppliers and how the roll out of smart meters will affect policy on the price cap.
The Committee also wants to know the likely impact of the legislation on energy suppliers, the market, investment, customer engagement and switching.
Chair Rachel Reeves MP said: “The energy market isn’t working. Millions of customers are stuck paying far too much for their gas and electricity and face exorbitant bills through their letterboxes this winter.
“As a Committee, we want to take a close eye to the government’s proposals and make recommendations to ensure that the reality of a price cap can match the rhetoric by delivering lower bills for consumers and fixing the broken energy market.”
The deadline for submissions is 29th November 2017.
The Committee will be questioning Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark on 1st November 2017.
An independent review by Professor Dieter Helm, one of Britain’s leading energy experts, has found UK householders and businesses are paying "too much" for energy as a result of the government's green taxes.