Crisis? What Crisis? Mixed Messages On Energy Supply

The government might have refused to embark on a public information campaign to help people cut their energy consumption because Liz Truss thinks that would be the nanny state” in operation, but others are at least going to give it a go.

- James Moore

Step forward energy regulator Ofgem, which will have to help pick up the pieces in the event of a supply crunch at the worst possible time: when it starts to get bitterly cold outside and people need three duvets to still feel their toes when they go to bed at night.

The regulator is keen to try and head that off by making its own efforts to encourage people to take some of the small, easily achievable steps they can accomplish to reduce energy consumption. It goes without saying that this could also save them a bunch of money, easing the effects of the ongoing cost of living crisis while we’re at it.

“It is important to remember that the energy price guarantee still means that a typical household will be paying around double what they were a year ago: £2,500 rather than the £1,277 level of last October,” Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearly said at Energy UK’s annual gathering.

“I talk to customers on a regular basis and I know that for some these price levels will still have a huge impact.”

Brearly went on to detail some of those impacts, while also making the point that £2,500 is an average based on a “typical” household. What people pay in reality depends on how much they consume.