A welcome attempt to fix the broken energy market

Back in October, Ofgem produced a report exposing the failure of the UK’s energy market. It showed that the supplier’s profit margin on the average fuel bill had shot up from £15 to £125 in just four months. As I said at the time,

‘This wouldn’t be possible in a market that was working correctly. If customers were shopping around for the best deal, suppliers would have to undercut each other – and there’s plenty of room for them to reduce prices while still turning a profit (£125 of room, in fact). But Ofgem’s figures show this isn’t happening.’

And why isn’t it happening? Because, in Ofgem’s words, ‘Many consumers see the energy market as complex and hard to navigate. Only a small number actively seek out better deals and welcome having choice’. They blamed the energy suppliers for this, accusing them of ‘stifling competition through a combination of tariff complexity, poor supplier behaviour and lack of transparency’.