Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of extending a specific price cap, comparable to that applying to domestic customers, to landlords of vacant residential properties supplied under deemed energy contracts following the end of a tenancy.

The Price Cap was established to protect existing and future domestic customers who pay standard variable and default rates from a ‘loyalty penalty’. The non-domestic energy market is significantly more complicated, with considerable variation in consumption levels, so the domestic cap could not be extended to cover deemed rates for non-domestic contracts.

Ofgem published updated guidance on the rules for deemed rates in November 2023. This prohibits suppliers from profiting significantly more from deemed rates than from their wider contracts, alongside a broader protection against unduly onerous contract terms. Last year Ofgem also approved improvements to the Retail Energy Code, standardising how supplier’s manage changes of occupancy involving landlords and other non-domestic consumers.