Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on the introduction of lower standing charge tariffs for electricity consumers.

The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the energy bill is placed on standing charges. We are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and are working constructively with Ofgem on this issue.

Ofgem have been working to ensure that domestic consumers can choose tariffs with low or no standing charges. You can read about this here:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/policy/standing-charges-energy-price-cap-variant-next-steps.

Ofgem have also been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system through their Cost Allocation and Recovery Review. This includes whether those fixed costs could be recovered in more progressive ways, and we are working closely with the regulator on this. You can read about this here: Energy system cost allocation and recovery review | Ofgem