Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of lowering the market reference prices for the Contracts for Difference AR6 on the (a) budget that can be allocated to projects during the auction, (b) number of projects that can be awarded in that round and (c) total capacity that will be secured through AR6.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The reference prices we use for the Contracts for Difference budget are an output from the Department’s main power model and are characteristic of decarbonisation pathways that are net-zero consistent.
Budgets are set based on a wide range of factors such as an assessment of the pipeline of projects that could participate in the auction, rather than being a pre-determined monetary constraint. If reference prices were higher or lower, the budget would change accordingly, and approximately the same capacity would likely be successful in the auction.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with Ofgem on ensuring that energy consumers who are not in debt are not financially disadvantaged as a result of energy companies minimising exposure to their commercial risk of bad debt through higher standing charges.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The setting of standing charges is a commercial matter for individual suppliers, within the context of Ofgem regulating aspects of standing charges. This includes setting a cap as part of the overall default tariff cap, thus ensuring millions of households pay a fair price for their energy.
Ofgem launched a call for input on standing charges, looking into how they are applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered, which closed in January 2024. I am supportive of Ofgem’s decision to gather evidence on the current standing charge model and will seek updates in due course. Moreover, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote a joint letter to Ofgem in March highlighting the Government’s expectation that standing charges should be kept as low as possible.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what options are available to members of the public who wish to complain about responses provided by their local transmission operators.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Members of the public dissatisfied with the service provided by network companies can follow the established complaints procedure overseen by Ofgem. Under the procedure, they should escalate the issue within the network company first, with subsequent referral to the Energy Ombudsman or Ofgem if required. Details on the procedure are available on all network companies' and Ofgem's websites.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with Ofgem on the number of people who have yet to be assessed as eligible for compensation from energy companies for the forced installation of prepayment meters.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Suppliers have so far carried out 150,000 assessments to make sure those impacted get the compensation they deserve. Of these cases, around 2,500 customers were identified as needing compensation - and around 60% of those have received it, with payments planned for another 1,000 customers. We expect suppliers to work day and night to issue these remaining payments - there is no excuse for delay. While this is a matter for Ofgem, I have spoken to Ofgem about their responsibilities and the need for suppliers to speed up payments. I will continue to monitor this very closely.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with Ofgem on the number of people who have yet to receive compensation from energy companies for the forced installation of prepayment meters.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Suppliers have so far carried out 150,000 assessments to make sure those impacted get the compensation they deserve. Of these cases, around 2,500 customers were identified as needing compensation - and around 60% of those have received it, with payments planned for another 1,000 customers. We expect suppliers to work day and night to issue these remaining payments - there is no excuse for delay. While this is a matter for Ofgem, I have spoken to Ofgem about their responsibilities and the need for suppliers to speed up payments. I will continue to monitor this very closely.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with Ofgem on compensation from energy companies to consumers for the forced installation of prepayment meters.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Suppliers have so far carried out 150,000 assessments to make sure those impacted get the compensation they deserve. Of these cases, around 2,500 customers were identified as needing compensation - and around 60% of those have received it, with payments planned for another 1,000 customers. We expect suppliers to work day and night to issue these remaining payments - there is no excuse for delay. While this is a matter for Ofgem, I have spoken to Ofgem about their responsibilities and the need for suppliers to speed up payments. I will continue to monitor this very closely.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff will employed in her Department's offices in Aberdeen at grade (a) 6, (b) 7 and (c) SCS by 2027.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Aberdeen has 102 staff (as at end March 24) and our ambition is to increase this to 135 by March 2027, however this is the overall target for this location; targets are not specific to grades or staff groups.
Relocation of roles out of London is being managed via voluntary relocation of internal staff and through recruitment, therefore we are unable to predict grade composition of staff that will be based in Aberdeen in 2027.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with Ofgem on (a) the temporary increase to the price cap to pay off debt and (b) whether energy companies will use this money to reduce indebted customers’ balances.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In England, estimates indicate that the government support provided prevented 389,000 households from becoming fuel poor in 2023.
Despite unprecedented support with bills, the Government recognises consumer energy debt as a large and growing issue and understands the cost-of-living challenges households are facing.
Ofgem has a responsibility for setting the price cap at which suppliers can recover costs they incur, and the government expects suppliers to do all they can to support customers in debt, particularly vulnerable customers.
We welcome Ofgem’s ‘Affordability and debt in the domestic retail market – call for input' published 11 March 2024 and look forward to seeing the results and Ofgem’s next course of action. Details of Ofgem’s consultation can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/affordability-and-debt-domestic-retail-market-call-input
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will hold discussions with Ofgem on ensuring that energy consumers who are not in debt are not financially disadvantaged by energy companies minimising exposure to bad debt through higher standing charges.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Minsters and Officials have regular meetings with Ofgem to discuss a wide range of issues, including standing charges.
Ofgem recently sought views on standing charges and is currently analysing the responses. Further information is available at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/standing-charges-call-input .
It is not uncommon in consumer markets for companies to recover costs, such as customer debt, from their wider customer base. Otherwise, it could risk the company being inadequately funded for the services they provide, including help and support to vulnerable customers. Without adequate funding, it could also risk suppliers going insolvent, giving rise to potentially significant additional costs of a supplier of last resort or special administration regime.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will instruct Ofgem to update the (a) Holistic Network Design and (b) Centralised Strategic Network Plan to ensure a greater proportion of future electricity transmission infrastructure is built offshore.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Electricity System Operator (ESO) is responsible for assessing and recommending transmission reinforcement options.
Its Holistic Network Design recommendations give equal consideration to impacts on communities, cost to consumers, environmental impacts, and deliverability.
The ESO has assessed a wide range of options for each network need identified in order to minimise impacts against the four criteria. This includes assessing both on and offshore options. Where an offshore route performs best, the ESO recommends this.
The ESO will publish the transitional Centralised Strategic Network Plan on March 19th, which will include details of its recommended design options.