Ofgem’s ‘energy price cap’ is not worthy of the name |
The latest Ofgem energy price cap came into force at the start of this month. That’s not good news though: as we struggle through this bleakest of winters and coldest of months, our gas and electricity bills are going to be more expensive than they were before.
Because the very term "energy cap" is of course a misnomer. When is a cap not a cap? When it fails to protect people from soaring costs and in any case is adjusted – and more often than not upwards – every three months. When the price cap was first introduced in January 2019, the average UK energy bill was £1,137. Today it is £1,758.
Supposedly intended to help people who were struggling with unaffordable bills, the energy price cap is little more than a sticking plaster on an energy market that needs major........