Measures to help combat the rise in fuel poverty, where consumers spend more than one-tenth of their income on energy, were discussed at the summit, which was chaired by Ofgem’s chairman Sir John Mogg. These measures will be incorporated into an action program in early May 2008.
Ofgem presented to the summit, its analysis of the differences in supplier prices across different payment methods. The analysis emerged from Ofgem’s monitoring of the market. The regulator confirmed that it was looking at whether further measures are necessary to address the largest premiums. A region-by-region switching advice campaign is expected to follow.
The action program will reportedly include a raft of measures to make sure help is pinpointed on people who genuinely need it and encourage supplier commitment to provide clear information for trusted advice agencies to enable them to guide the elderly and other vulnerable consumers to the best offerings.
Sir John said: The actions from this Ofgem summit will help ensure that resources to fight fuel poverty have the highest impact by targeting them precisely on those who need them, the fuel poor and those vulnerable to fuel poverty.
