Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has apologised after launching a foul-mouthed rant at Ofgem. Mr Lewis has admitted he 'lost his rag' during a background briefing with the Government regulator talking about their proposals for changes.
He has accused Ofgem of ignoring all asks for customers and listening to calls to scrap its proposed market stablisation charge. It comes as households could see energy price caps reviewed four times a year instead of two, which means bills could increase more frequently than they did before.
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 price cap is currently reviewed once every six months. Ofgem is now consulting on doing this every four months.
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Martin tweeted: "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****** 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. My breaking point was when hearing how instead of listening to calls to scrap its proposed market stabilization charge, it was making it harsher to really 'stop the harmful effects of competition'. I.e staggeringly its aims to effectively STOP firms undercutting the price cap.
"Its logic was this'd prevent other firms needing to 'exit the market'. For years I've been pushing it for better controls in who they allow to set up energy firms. Yet now its way to stop it (is) to lock in advantage to higher charging incumbent former monopoly firms. Combine that with meeting industry's demand for a new more frequent 'every 3mth' price cap change - Carefully calibrated for the first three months to include six months of wholesale prices (so the price factors in the highest wholesale rates in history) so firms don't miss out...
"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). Please accept that was (and this is) an emotional rant, not a considered piece. 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)."
An Ofgem statement said: "A more frequent price cap would reflect the most up to date and accurate energy prices and mean when prices fall from the current record highs, customers would see the benefit much sooner.
"This change would also help energy suppliers more accurately predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures which ultimately push up costs for consumers." Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: "Our top priority is to protect consumers by ensuring a fair and resilient energy market that works for everyone.
"Our retail reforms will ensure that consumers are paying a fair price for their energy while ensuring resilience across the sector. Today’s proposed change would mean the price cap is more reflective of current market prices and any price falls would be delivered more quickly to consumers.
"It would also help energy suppliers better predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures, which ultimately pushes up costs for consumers. The last year has shown that we need to make changes to the price cap so that suppliers are better able to manage risks in these unprecedented market conditions.”
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