Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring energy companies to cover the costs of any differential between a standard customer tariff and a prepayment customer tariff.

Under the Ofgem Energy Price Cap methodology, energy suppliers can change the efficient cost to supply energy, and the cost incurred for each payment method is one of the variables in this calculation.

The Government has announced that the cost differential between customers paying by direct debit and prepayment customers will be covered through the Energy Price Guarantee from 1 July this year. This will save a comparable prepayment meter customer £45 a year on average.

Ofgem are looking at options for removing the cost difference between direct debit and prepayment from April 2024.