Response to Ofgem on standing charges

24 January 2024 

Citizens Advice Scotland has responded to Ofgem's call for input on standing charges. The key points from the response are: 

• Scrapping standing charges and increasing unit rates creates 'winners' and 'losers'. The latter group includes low-income households that have high energy use. 
• We think that Ofgem should compel energy suppliers to offer tariffs without standing charges, available to consumers who would benefit from this kind of tariff.
• Given the disparities in regional standing charge rates, we believe that Ofgem should consider whether a regional approach is fair. 
• So-called 'rising block' tariffs, which don't have a standing charge and have progressively more expensive blocks of unit rates, may encourage energy rationing and disincentivise low-carbon electric heat take-up

You can download and read the full response below.