PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Energy: Payment Methods (17 February 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of tasking Ofgem to consider the issue of higher costs that customers incur when paying by methods other than direct debit.

Asked by:
Darren Jones (Labour)

Ofgem rules currently state that the difference in price between payment methods for energy must reflect the cost to the supplier of that method. On 21 February, Ofgem published a Call for Evidence on a package of work focused on prepayment meters, including looking at all energy payment methods to see whether there is a case for levelling them. Responses are requested by 7 March.

Answered by:
Graham Stuart (Conservative)
27 February 2023