Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Amanda Solloway and Grahame Morris

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

5. Whether she has had discussions with energy providers on reducing energy standing charges for charities and businesses.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)]

The setting of tariffs, including standing charges, in the non-domestic market is a commercial matter for suppliers. The Secretary of State and I have met suppliers and Ofgem multiple times over the past year to urge them to support businesses and keep bills down, and Ofgem has recently called for input and views on standing charges.

[Grahame Morris]

Mr Speaker, I associate myself with your earlier remarks about the sad passing of my dear friend Ronnie Campbell, and indeed Lord Cormack.

For months now, East Durham Trust in my constituency has been in dispute with its supplier, TotalEnergies, after TotalEnergies raised its standing charge from 40p a day to £20 a day—an increase of over 4,000%. Remarkably, after making complaints to the Department, Ofgem, Northern Powergrid and TotalEnergies, I found out just yesterday that TotalEnergies has agreed to remotely reconfigure the meter in question. Can the Minister explain why energy companies and distributors do not seek to address customer issues sooner, and does she agree that we have a failing regulator and an energy system that seeks to maximise profits?

[Amanda Solloway]

I am pleased to hear from the hon. Gentleman that the situation has been resolved, and I suggest that exactly the right recourse is to contact the relevant parties. We are now launching the ability of the ombudsman to help small businesses as well, which reassures me that such cases will be seen to more quickly and resolved sooner.