During an urgent question in the House of Commons on the proposed energy price cap, Anne Main spoke for those living in fuel poverty in St Albans, and asked what more the government can do to help those in need to find the most best tariffs.

‘May I tell the Secretary of State that the latest data show that 2,687 households in my constituency are estimated to be in fuel poverty? That is 6.6% of all households.’  The St Albans MP went on to ask what more can be done to ‘identify these vulnerable groups and ensure that they have the best advice and information about switching tariffs?’  Anne concluded her comments by saying that the ‘suggestion that people search online is not the way forwards. Perhaps it would be more helpful to have a better dialogue between the consumer and the energy provider.’

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, responded by agreeing with Mrs Main that the poor spend a larger share of their income on energy.  Mr Clark said that it was therefore ‘imperative that vulnerable consumers should not be required go on the internet every few months to check that their tariff has not defaulted to a much higher one.’ 

The business secretary has written to the energy regulator, Ofgem, asking them to use its powers to impose a price cap following the Competition and Markets Authority’s analyisis that showed energy customers on standard variable tariffs were paying on average £1.4 billion a year more than would be the case in a competitive market.

Mr Clark concluded his comments to Anne by saying that she was ‘absolutely right that an aspect of the wider set of policies is to make it easier for consumers to know the price of energy and how much they consume, and smart meters are being introduced to help more people to do that.’