In an ongoing shake-up of the way that the energy industry treats consumers, watchdog Ofgem has
confirmed that new regulations are to be brought in requiring companies to give consumers more
advance warning of price rises.
The move should allow households to compare gas and electricity prices from the major providers in
advance of price rises, giving them more opportunity to switch suppliers.
Ofgem clamps down on energy suppliers
Whilst the existing rules allow energy companies to write to customers up to 65 days after increasing
prices, the new regulations will insist that energy companies give customers 30 days’ notice of any
change to their contract that will leave them significantly worse off.
Andrew Wright of Ofgem said: “Today’s changes will again show that we are serious about making
sure suppliers play it straight with consumers. We believe that 30 days’ advance notification of price
increases, coupled with our new proposals for more transparency and an end to complex tariffs, will
give consumers more power to make informed switching choices.”
The changes will come into force on April 28.
Companies already giving notice of price rises
The Daily Telegraph reports that ‘several energy companies have already started giving customers
more notice since the proposals were put forward last year. Scottish & Southern Energy…claimed it
became the first of the major providers to give customers 30 days’ written notice when it announced
a rise of 9.4per cent in gas prices at the end of October.’
The newspaper also reports that British Gas also claimed to have given its eight million customers
30 days’ notice of its price rises in December last year. EDF announced price rises on February 3 that
came into force on March 2.
However, Npower’s price rise that took effect on January 4 was only announced on December 10
and it sent letters to six million customers in the intervening period.
