Household energy bills could rise every three months instead of six under new plans to review the price cap that limits what companies can charge consumers.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, said it might insert two extra reviews a year, one in January and another in July.
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley has said that proposed changes to review the energy price cap four times a year would mean that bills could go up quicker, but they will also fall more rapidly.
Brearley said: “Remember that the total cost you pay over the year would be absolutely the same, because that reflects only the cost of the energy that we buy.”
“Yes, the price would go up more quickly as prices go up, but equally importantly as those prices come down, then the price cap comes back down again."
He added: '“I remember back in the 2010s when people saw their prices go up and were waiting and wondering why prices didn’t come down equally quickly.
“The good thing about the price cap is that we will make sure it only reflects costs, and therefore it only reflects what you need to pay for your energy.”
The energy price cap – currently at a record £1,971 per year for the average household – is reviewed every six months and changed in October and April.
The move came as a senior Tory MP joined calls for a windfall tax in energy companies to give direct help to hard-pressed consumers.
Mel Stride, the chairman of the Commons Treasury committee, said on Monday “there is a case” for the move.
He told the BBC: “I personally think there is a case now for looking at a one-off windfall tax and channelling that money in towards those who are really struggling and are bearing the brunt of these cost-of-living challenges.”
“A windfall tax is a one-off tax on a company or group of companies. It is so named as it targets excess profits the firms had not expected to make or were responsible for.
Labour has been calling for the tax amid a steep rise in energy bills and will put the issue to a vote in the Commons on Tuesday.
Keir Starmer has said an extra 10 per cent should be added to energy companies corporation tax bill for one year.
Labour has said the move would raise £1.2 billion, with the money used to save people £600 on their bills.
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