Decision on adjusting standing charges for prepayment customers
Summary
Ofgem decision on adjusting standing charges for prepayment customers. Addresses the historic premium that prepayment meter users pay in fixed daily charges compared to direct debit customers.
Why it matters
Directly affects the most financially vulnerable energy consumers. Prepayment customers are disproportionately low-income. Equalising or reducing their standing charges redistributes costs to other payment methods.
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
Decision on adjusting standing charges for prepayment customers | Ofgem Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience. BETA This site is currently in BETA. Help us improve by giving us your feedback . Close alert: Decision on adjusting standing charges for prepayment customers Publication type: Decision Publication date: 23 February 2024 Topic: Energy pricing rules, Metering Subtopic: Standing charges, Prepayment meters Decision for: Changes to prepayment meter standing charges and other debt costs Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn August 2024 Update: We have published an open letter to outline that the levelisation of debt-related costs across Standard Credit (SC) and Direct Debit (DD) customers workstream (also known as Levelisation Phase 2) has been paused. We will provide an update on our wider debt policies in Autumn 2024. This is our decision on adjusting (or ‘levelising’) standing charges for prepayment meter (PPM) and direct debit (DD) customers from April 2024, with an accompanying reconciliation mechanism. This will make payment methods more equal or equitable (but less cost-reflective). Before the end of the first year, we will review the impact and operation of the levelisation of PPM and DD standing charges. Main document Decision on adjusting standing charges for prepayment customers [PDF, 1.04MB] Subsidiary documents Decision Notice for Standard Licence Condition 28AD - Feb 24 [PDF, 187.06KB] Regional Levelisation Analysis Model - Single Rate [XLSX, 831.62KB] Regional Levelisation Analysis Model - Multi Rate [XLSX, 476.86KB] Levelisation update open letter - August 2024 [PDF, 65.92KB] Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Close