Government pauses plans for energy autoswitching  

The government has announced it will pause development on its recent consultation on autoswitching as part of a “refresh” of its energy retail strategy.

Published earlier this year, the strategy had a heavy focus on switching disengaged customers automatically when they reach the end of their default tariff, as well as prompting switching more generally.

In a statement to Parliament energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said that while the vision for the government’s strategy remains the right one, it also needs to take into account the lessons from recent months to ensure the market is “resilient, sustainable, and continues to protect consumers as we move to a net zero energy system”.

“The government therefore intends to review these lessons as part of a wider refresh of the current energy retail market strategy, with the aim of publishing an updated strategy as soon as possible, once the market has stabilised,” he said.

He further revealed the government was now seeking views on how future policy can best achieve the vision set out in the strategy, and how the lessons from recent market developments should inform this.

In particular the government is interested in how the market can achieve the best outcomes for consumers, how energy companies can help drive private investment needed to achieve net zero and how the market, underpinning regulatory framework and the price cap may need to evolve.

He added: “To enable this refresh of our overall retail market strategy, and to help stabilise the market in the short-term, the government is therefore pausing policy development on the recent public consultation on opt-in and testing opt-out switching.

“The government is grateful to all those who took the time to respond to this consultation, and to the other recent government calls for evidence on third-party intermediaries and on the transparency of carbon content in energy products. The government will set out next steps on these issues and publish a summary of responses in due course.”

Kwarteng’s remarks to refresh the government’s strategy followed a series of publications from Ofgem setting out its plans to make the market more resilient in the face of the continuing energy crisis.

Among these were plans to introduce stress testing for suppliers, a review of the price cap methodology and temporary measures to combat market volatility.