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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he take steps to reduce the standard charge on energy bills to alleviate financial pressure for consumers.

Energy suppliers use standing charges to recover the on-going costs to provide a live supply, regardless of a consumer’s usage.

The largest element of the standing charge is the cost of the electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks, which vary depending on different geographical area. Reducing or removing the standing charge would likely see the system costs being added to the unit price of energy. This could result in increased bills for high energy users, such as those with medical equipment used at home.