Acting on its pledges in the Energy White Paper which was published in December 2020, the Government has announced two consultations aimed at protecting consumers, particularly the most vulnerable, from rising energy costs and fuel poverty. Below we examine what the Government is seeking to achieve.
Energy retail: opt-in and testing opt-out switching – The Government is seeking to create the framework to introduce an opt-in switching scheme, where households on the most expensive tariffs are offered a simple method of switching to a cheaper tariff. In addition to this, the intention is to widen this to test an opt-out switching mechanism, whereby, unless the consumer chooses not to, those who are out of contract for a period will be switched automatically to a competitive new contract. This consultation will lad the way for a wider examination of how current ‘default’ arrangements might be reformed to enable greater competition. This consultation run until 15 October 2021.
Warm Home Discount: better targeted support from 2022 – The Warm Home Discount scheme obliges participating energy suppliers to provide rebates to their customers, to reduce energy bills for low-income and vulnerable households and tackle fuel poverty. This consultation proposes to expand and reform the scheme in England and Wales until 2026. The objective of the reforms is to improve the fuel poverty targeting rate of the scheme and ensure more fuel poor households can receive rebates on their energy bills automatically, through the use of data matching. Responses to this consultation are to be submitted by 22 August 2021
We are committed to support measures which tackle fuel poverty and improve the consumer experience for energy users and strongly believe that the outcome of both of these consultations, if implemented will improve the lives of those who are most in need within our communities. Please email the compliance team at compliance@carbonxgen.com or to discuss this further please call Melanie Kendall-Reid on 01252 87 87 22. We value your thoughts and input.