Cap on energy bills could be reviewed four times a year in bid to save families money
The regulator wants to make sure companies are passing cheaper prices onto customers facing a cost of living crisis
Last updated 17th May 2022
Energy regulator Ofgem could review the price cap on household energy bills every three months, it has said.
Under new plans, it said could insert two new reviews a year, one in January and another one in July.
Bosses believed that would help pass on savings from a potential fall in gas prices to customers more rapidly.
It also thinks it would protect under-pressure energy suppliers from being damaged by the cap, keeping them in business for longer.
What have Ofgem said about this?
"Today's proposed change would mean the price cap is more reflective of current market prices and any price falls would be delivered more quickly to consumers," said Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley.
"It would also help energy suppliers better predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures, which ultimately pushes up costs for consumers.
"The last year has shown that we need to make changes to the price cap so that suppliers are better able to manage risks in these unprecedented market conditions."
After a consultation, Ofgem hopes that the changes could come into force from October, meaning the first change under the new system would be made in January.
The energy price cap - currently at a record £1,971 per year for the average household - is reviewed every six months and changed in October and April.
How is the 'energy price cap' decided?
Ofgem considers a range of information when deciding where the price cap should be set. The price that energy suppliers pay for the gas and electricity they buy is a major part of this.
Over the last year gas prices have risen so rapidly that suppliers were often forced to sell the gas for less than they bought it for due to the price cap.
By changing the price cap more often, Ofgem will make it more reflective of international gas prices, taking some of the pressure off suppliers.
The proposed changes to the cap will also allow suppliers to recover some other costs in a better timescale.
"Our top priority is to protect consumers by ensuring a fair and resilient energy market that works for everyone," Mr Brearley said.
"Our retail reforms will ensure that consumers are paying a fair price for their energy while ensuring resilience across the sector."
"It's been real, it's been live and it's been brushed under the carpet to a large degree"
David Holliday owns the Norfolk Brewhouse in Hindringham near Fakenham.
He welcomes the new plans- but says it won't solve everything:
"Any change and more frequent reviewing is going to be a more positive thing, so we've got to look at it to say they are acknowledging that there's an issue and that we can't just keep kicking the can down the road on this. But we need the confidence to know what the pricing structure is going to be and small businesses need the same sort of cap that residential people are getting".
David also told us that creating market certainty is vital:
"Our energy bill is going to be in the region of 22 to 23 thousand and when we last spoke to you we were saying that it was between 16 and 19 thousand- so already it's just an perpetual upwards spiral. If we know this is it, we can plan- fine. But if it's just constantly, 'it's going up next month', it's very difficult for businesses to have that confidence to keep going forwards".
He went on to tell us that the problem isn't new and could have been avoided:
"This has been with us since August and September last year. It's been real, it's been live and it's been brushed under the carpet to a large degree. The Government's mood music was 'it's a short-term market correction', so lots of small businesses like ourselves didn't cap when they came out of of contract, because they didn't want to cap at peak. But, so many of them wished they had capped because it wasn't the peak".