Call for evidence outcome

Default energy tariffs for households: call for evidence

From:
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Published
23 February 2024
Last updated
19 December 2024 — See all updates
This call for evidence has closed

Read the full outcome

Future default tariffs: summary of responses to the call for evidence

PDF, 221 KB, 17 pages

Detail of outcome

Our stakeholder engagement and the response to this Call for Evidence provided a diverse range of views:

  • broad agreement with the proposed principles for the future design of default tariffs but questions on how these would be applied in practice
  • agreement that some form of price protection is required to prevent a reoccurrence of the ‘loyalty penalty’, but that the default tariff cap needs to be reviewed in light of the upcoming transition to Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS)

The government recognises the importance of having the right regulations in place to protect household’s interests. We are committed to retaining the default tariff cap and will continue to work closely with Ofgem to review the cap and to ensure that the regulatory price protection arrangements provide adequate protections in a smarter, more flexible energy market. We will provide further updates in due course.

Feedback

We received 36 responses from: 

  • consumer groups 
  • energy suppliers 
  • other market participants 
  • think tanks 

We also held individual meetings and 2 stakeholder events attended by wide range of stakeholders. These meetings were attended by over 40 stakeholders and have been used alongside written responses to inform our next steps.   

Ofgem published a discussion paper on the Future of Price Protections alongside our Call for Evidence on the future of default tariffs - see the summary of responses to the paper.

Original call for evidence

Summary

We're seeking views on how the type and price of default tariffs may evolve and the fairest ways to protect household consumers in a world of more flexible energy pricing.

This call for evidence ran from
to

Call for evidence description

This call for evidence is exclusively about default arrangements for households. We want to explore the general starting and return arrangements when consumers have not actively chosen an energy deal. We’re looking for evidence on:

  • how default tariffs should support households in the future, including principles for designing future default tariffs
  • the possible types of default tariff, including smart tariffs for, as an example, electric vehicles
  • the price of future default tariffs, including how Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHSS) could affect the design of default tariffs

It may be of interest to the following groups:

  • energy suppliers and intermediaries
  • consumers and consumer bodies
  • industry bodies
  • energy think tanks

Read our consultation privacy notice.

Documents

Future default tariffs: call for evidence

PDF, 434 KB, 22 pages

Updates to this page

Published 23 February 2024
Last updated 19 December 2024 + show all updates

  1. Published summary of responses.

  2. First published.

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