Johnson leaves decisions on bills support to successor

Boris Johnson has stated it will be up to his successor to make any significant decisions on further support for people struggling to pay spiralling energy bills.

The outgoing prime minister, along with chancellor of the exchequer Nadhim Zahawi and business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, met with energy industry leaders at a roundtable on Thursday morning (11 August) to discuss potential solutions to the current crisis.

According to a readout of the meeting, which was issued by the Treasury, ministers noted that the market is not “always functioning” for consumers, and “extraordinarily high bills will ultimately damage energy companies”.

Zahawi said the government is continuing to evaluate the extraordinary profits seen in “certain parts of the electricity generation sector” and the “appropriate and proportionate steps to take in response”.

The government has yet to extend the energy profits levy on oil and gas companies, which was introduced by ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak in May, to those electricity generators that have seen profits increase on the back of high wholesale market prices.

The chancellor and energy firms agreed to work closely over the coming weeks to ensure that the public, including vulnerable customers, are supported as “unprecedented global events” push energy costs higher.

The meeting discussed how government and industry can “collectively drive” reforms flagged up in the British Energy Security Strategy to ensure the market delivers lower prices.

However, the government stopped short of outlining tangible extra measures to assist cash-strapped customers, with Johnson saying he will leave it to his replace to make “significant fiscal decisions”.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Centrica, Drax, EDF, Energy UK, Eon, Greencoat Capital, Intergen, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Orsted, RWE, ScottishPower, SSE, Uniper and Vitol.

Johnson said: “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine. We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.

“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.

“We are continuing to roll out government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost of living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.”

Zahawi, said that in the “spirit of national unity”, electricity industry leaders agreed to work with the government to do “more to help the people who most need it.”

Dhara Vyas, Energy UK’s director of advocacy, said: “The latest bill projections for this winter are extremely worrying: both the government and the energy sector know that we need to work together and act quickly to put in more support for them.

“While energy suppliers continue to do all they can to support customers, they know that more people than ever will struggle to afford their bills and so the demand for extra help will far outstrip the support that is in place.

“Today’s meeting was very welcome and the whole energy sector is committed to working with government over the coming weeks to see what measures can be put in place to reduce the burden on customers.”

The meeting follows an estimate by energy consultancy Auxilione that the retail price cap could rise to more than £5,000 next April.

Meanwhile, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has backed Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey’s call for the energy price cap to be frozen at its current level.

Support for billpayers this winter will be a key topic of discussion at the Utility Week Forum on 8-9 November in London. Find out more here.