PAC Ofgem report: Bill for government pushed market failures must not fall on consumers

Sadly, OFGEM appears to be a regulator that doesn’t regulate, says GMB Union

GMB, the energy union, has responded to today’s Public Accounts Committee report [1] saying ‘Ofgem’s failure to effectively regulate the energy supplier market’ have come ‘at a considerable cost to billpayers’.

Figures released by the committee show on average, bills have increased by £94 in order to cover the numerous companies that have gone bankrupt over the last twelve months, a figure likely to increase when the huge costs involved with the failure of Bulb energy are taken into account.

Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, said:

“The Government’s remorseless attempt to use the market to regulate energy has been a massive disaster that has left millions of responsible households worse off.

“In reality, the market may be the right solution when it comes to selling tins of beans but has been an abysmal failure when applied to energy.

“The simple fact is that energy is an essential service and needs to be treated as such.

“Rather than expect the public to pick between suppliers, many of whom appear to have been trading without the necessary capital to underwrite their commitments, people simply want a simple option that gives them the best price.

“Sadly, OFGEM appears to be a regulator that doesn’t regulate . As a result, households are picking up the bill for their costly failure.”