Recommendation 49

HM Government · verbatim extract Deferred

For many people, prepayment meters remain an effective way to pay for their energy use and to help them manage costs and debt. For prepayment meter customers in Great Britain, the Energy Price Guarantee will be applied to the rate paid for each unit of energy, so the money put on the meter will last longer than would otherwise have been the case this winter. As is the case with the current price cap, under the Energy Price Guarantee there will continue to be a small difference between the unit cost for a pre-payment meter customer and other bill payers. because it costs more to install, maintain, and run their meters. Reducing prices for prepayment meter customers below their current level would require cross-subsidisation between consumers and between suppliers. Ofgem has robust rules in place to protect prepayment meter customers, including an obligation to ensure suppliers make emergency and friendly-hours credit available to all pre-payment meter customers. Responses to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2022–23 15 In addition, where a supplier identifies that a prepayment customer is in a vulnerable situation, including where a customer is self-disconnecting or self-rationing their supply, they must also offer additional support credit. When assessing how a customer will repay any credit offered, suppliers must also consider their ability to pay.