Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring energy providers to charge uniform standing charges for domestic users in all regions.

Ofgem, as the independent regulator, sets standing charges as part of the price cap, and standing charges include the network charges that Ofgem sets under the price controls.

Network charges vary by region to reflect the different costs of supplying consumers in each region. Ofgem carried out an assessment of moving away from regional charging and that showed that it would risk an increase in overall costs and reduce accountability to the customers being served.