Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to reduce energy standing charges.

Decisions about standing charges are a commercial matter for energy suppliers. The standing charge is a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to their customers to cover the cost of providing a live supply. Under the Energy Price Guarantee, average standing charges for customers on default tariffs remain capped in line with the levels set by Ofgem.

Ofgem reviewed the components of the standing charge to see if they could be reduced and concluded that retaining the current methodology would protect users with greater energy needs and decided not to direct industry parties to make changes to the methodology.