Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate his Department has made of potential excess profits in the energy sector.

In the retail energy sector Ofgem has designed the energy price cap on household default tariffs so that retail prices include a modest allowance for profit. The non-domestic supply sector doesn’t have a price cap as there has been no evidence to date of excessive profits, and prices are determined based on individual supply contracts. Ofgem is carrying out a review of the business energy supply market.

The Energy Profits Levy is a temporary 35% surcharge on exceptional profits and comes on top of 40% headline tax rate applied to profits from UK oil and gas production, bringing the overall combined tax rate to 75%.