Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the impact on low-income households of the prices charged by energy companies to customers with pre-payment meters; and if he will take steps to ensure that energy companies do not impose higher charges for energy on customers with pre-payment meters as a result of their payment method.

The energy Supply Licence Conditions state that the difference in price between methods of supplying energy must reflect the actual cost to the supplier for that method. The costs of managing PPMs compared to standard meters are higher due to the different metering requirements and different payment systems. Ofgem is responsible for monitoring compliance with these terms.