Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has issued an apology for a furious phone attack to energy regulator Ofgem. Martin has made a public announcement for the phone call, in which he called Ofgem a 'f*cking disgrace', and admits he should have 'behaved better'.
The finance journalist had a phone call with Ofgem earlier today after the regulator said it wanted to change how often energy bills will go up or down in price. According to the Mirror, the proposals would see energy bill limits reviewed four times a year, rather than the current two. That means your price would fluctuate more frequently.
The MoneySavingExpert founder had a call with Ofgem staff this morning, but said he got overheated at the thought that consumers might lose out as a result.
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On Twitter, Lewis said: "I'd like to formally apologise to the Ofgem staff for losing my rag in a background briefing just now and saying its changes are a 'f*****g disgrace that sells consumers down the river'. I should've behaved better. My ire's institutional not individual, it was inappropriate...
"I lost it when getting a briefing about today's proposals, where it feels like at every turn, in these desperate times where lives are at risk, it has ignored all asks for consumers and instead kowtowed to the industry (I hope history proves me wrong)...
"I finished the call by asking it to at least consider cutting standard charges, which huge rates stop people really saving by cutting energy use. I have had good meetings with Ofgem for years, so I'm sorry this blew up (they were calm I wasn't)... I pray when I do further analysis I have to apologise again as I've got it very wrong (if not I worry about dire consequences for consumers - we must do more to make things better for them)."
What Ofgem wants to do is change how often it reviews the price cap it oversees. Energy bills will rise and fall much faster if this happens.
The price cap works by limiting how much the average home pays for power every year if they pay by direct debit on a variable rate tariff. The cap was introduced to help the most vulnerable households who are statistically most at risk of using these tariffs. The price cap is currently reviewed once every six months.
