Tariff innovation is increasing inequality, fuel campaigner claims

“Profit maximising” suppliers are increasing inequality by targeting innovative tariffs at a well-heeled “energy elite”, a leading fuel poverty campaigner has claimed.

Jonathan Bean, policy and parliament lead at Fuel Poverty Action, told the House of Commons energy security and net zero committee that a lot of the innovative tariffs on the market are enabling higher income and “tech savvy” groups to receive much cheaper energy.

Giving evidence to the committee’s inquiry into home heating, he said: “A lot of innovation at the moment is increasing energy inequality rather than helping people most suffering fuel poverty.”

Bean added that he is very worried that households on innovative tariffs are paying about half what fuel poor customers on all-electricity Economy 7 deals are forking out.

Highlighting the Energy for All model that Fuel Poverty Action has developed, which would ensure that households receive their essential heat and power needs, he said there is a “chance to do innovation but protect people that really need protection rather than within the energy elite”.

Bean also expressed concern about the regulator’s role in policing innovation: “We feel vulnerable groups are not being protected and Ofgem are not tracking things in the way it should be.”

He also called for local authorities to be given greater control over home heating upgrades to reduce the risk of “cowboy” builders performing low quality installations.

“We need to move to a totally different model because the current model is opening the door to cowboys to do very poor jobs. We need to get local authorities to take control of it,” he said.

But the key to improved quality is boosting the number of skilled installers, he said: “Until we have enough skilled contractors, we are not going to be in a position to do this street by street approach. 10% going wrong is going to massively undermine the whole thing.”

Zoe Guijarro, principal policy manager at Citizens Advice, told the same meeting that the “stop start nature” of the government’s energy efficiency and home heating programmes has “created more space for rogue traders to operate”.

Simon Bones, CEO and founder of digital home heating upgrade advice service Genous, accused lenders of being “slow” to roll out green mortgage finance because they are not “directly” required to do.

While some mortgage companies offer green borrowing packages, he had “yet to find one” which put it on their home page.”

“Most don’t make it easy to see so many customers are unaware.”