Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many energy suppliers have been investigated by Ofgem under its financial responsibility principle to protect customers against mutualisation of costs in the event of failure.

Individual investigations are a matter for Ofgem, the independent regulator, and that information is not shared with BEIS. On the mutualisation of costs specifically, Ofgem’s recent proposals target surplus balances to reduce the amount at risk of mutualisation. Their proposals also allow suppliers to continue to collect credit balances where these are required to help smooth customer payments evenly throughout the year.