Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
“Greg Clark is involved in his first ‘big six fat cat’ story”
Business and energy secretary Greg Clark has got involved in the first ‘big six fat cat’ story of his tenure. While it is unlikely to be the last, his handling of the prickly issue could set the tone for his and the government’s leadership in this area.
A report at the start of the week by The Sun claimed the major energy suppliers were making six times the profit they state in their official reports to Ofgem.
The claims, which come from the paper’s analysis of a report commissioned by Energy UK from accountancy firm PwC, have been labelled as a “misrepresentation of the facts” by the trade association.
However, with the cold weather biting, headlines of energy companies profiteering will stoke up consumer anger.
Clark has a fine line to tread. He needs to be seen to be acting to protect consumers, while also not going in too hard on a sector he needs to work with closely.
Clark’s first comments were that he wanted to speak with Energy UK and examine the evidence. “This report appears to confirm my concern that the big energy firms are punishing their customers’ loyalty rather than respecting it,” he said.
This does not bode well for the suppliers, and follows hints the government may seek to go beyond the CMA’s remedies and intervene further in the market despite warnings from the sector.
If Clark goes too hard at the suppliers to please consumers, developing an industrial strategy with energy at its core will become a lot more difficult, especially as the good feelings towards him ebb away.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.