In her speech today at Conservative party conference, Theresa May announced a draft bill that would give Ofgem full power to impose a widespread energy price cap. Here’s what Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com and cheapenergyclub.com has to say about her proposals.
It’s a national disgrace that a struggling 90 year-old granny pays substantially more to boil a kettle than an affluent web-savvy man like me.
However a price cap done wrong can do more harm than good. Some in the Tories have called for a ‘relative’ price cap – which means a firm’s most expensive price can only be a set percentage more than the cheapest. That’s self-defeating – it means they’ll just withdraw cheap deals.
Politicians have to decide, do they see competition and switching as the solution, or do they want to regulate prices? For switching to work you need big price differentials – so some will have to pay more than others.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in