Standing charges: domestic retail options

Overview

We are seeking views on the options to reduce household standing charges.

Who should respond

We would like views from energy suppliers, consumer groups and household bill payers. We would also like to hear from industry groups and network companies.

Background

Last year we started a review of standing charges. Our call for input had feedback from over 30,000 customers, consumer groups, charities and others.

We have now reviewed the feedback and have set out our options to reduce standing charges for households, called ‘domestic standing charges’.

This options paper talks about reducing domestic standing charges by moving some charges to the unit rate. It also considers options to increase consumer choice by increasing the range of standing charges offered by suppliers.

The paper also outlines what we will consider as part of a broader review of how network costs are recovered from users.

We think that there is an overall benefit from the changes discussed in this paper, but some consumers’ bills would increase. We are working together with government on how the impact on households in the domestic retail market could be reduced.

Standing charges are set by your energy supplier and are also included in the energy price cap. Your supplier will charge you this cost each day, even if you do not use any energy on that day. The charge covers the cost to maintain the energy supply network, take meter readings, and support government social and environmental schemes.  You can find information to help understand your electricity and gas bill on our website.

Before you start

Read the standing charges in the domestic retail market options paper. You'll find it in the 'Related' section on this page.

The paper contains the full background for this discussion. Please refer to it when giving us your views.

Why your views matter

The options paper continues the discussion we started last year about standing charges.

We want to hear your views on the options given but would also like to hear any other feedback that may not be covered.

What happens next

We will review all responses received about each of the topics. We will put together proposals to allocate costs between standing charges to unit rates as part of our supplier operating costs review. We will also start to review how system costs are recovered from users and consult.