Citizens Advice responds to Ofgem announcement on lower standing charge tariffs
Responding to Ofgem’s latest announcement on standing charges, Gillian Cooper, Director of Energy at Citizens Advice said:
“Plans to offer a lower standing charge - the fixed cost of being connected to the electricity supply - may provide more choice to consumers, but won’t bring down people’s bills.
“There’s a real risk that those with higher energy needs, like some older or disabled people, could end up paying more if they choose one of these tariffs, so it’s crucial people are supported to make the right choice when this option becomes more widely available from January.
”With October’s price hike just around the corner, lower standing charge tariffs will not help the millions of households bracing themselves for yet another winter of unaffordable energy bills. The government must urgently set out plans for how it will support households struggling the most with energy costs now and over the coming years.”
Notes to editors:
Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
Citizens Advice helped 2.68 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2023-24. And we had 51.7 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 service outlets across England and Wales.
Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.
You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.