Recommendation 1
DESNZ should consider how it might use its understanding of the uncertainty around, for example, wholesale energy prices and changes in demand to improve its assessment of the costs of future interventions.
Source · National Audit Office
Energy bills support: an update
Energy bills support successfully protected many people and businesses during 2022 and 2023 from rising energy prices.
Published: 14 Nov 2024
Recommendations: 5
Type: Value for Money
NAO confirmed: 5
Department: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Based on a consideration of the likelihood and size of energy price fluctuations in the future, DESNZ should identify what interventions might be necessary across a reasonable set of scenarios to mitigate the impact of these fluctuations.
Recommendation 3
DESNZ should review its approach to preventing fraud and error on the schemes to identify good practice and any areas for improvement to share with other parts of government.
Recommendation 4
DESNZ should use the insights it has gained through implementing the non-domestic energy schemes and ensure that these are incorporated into future policy design.
Recommendation 5
DESNZ should work with Ofgem to consider what impact the increasing levels of consumer debt could have on the resilience of the energy market to price spikes and what actions should be taken to reduce debt levels over time.