MP demands gas and electric price transparency
26 February 2010 16:10:47
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| John Baron MP has demanded greater transparency on energy bills. |
The MP for Billericay and District is convinced that energy suppliers should be forced to provide customers with information enabling a simple tariff comparison on a regular basis.
He is concerned that the government's plans to provide additional information on annual statements do not go far enough, as this would fail to help customers who regularly compare gas and electric prices and are accustomed to switching.
"The minister (for energy and climate change) has claimed that enough information will be published on monthly bills, but this will not include tariff comparison information. This is wrong," Mr Baron said.
He continued: "Why will this information only be given out on annual statements, as this will discriminate against those customers who actively switch suppliers and who will therefore never receive such a statement as they will not have been with the supplier for 12 months?"
The MP's comments were made during parliamentary questions in the House of Commons and prompted energy minister David Kidney to praise his campaigning on the issue.
However, Mr Kidney insisted that all energy bills "will contain information about consumption and costs to customers" and explained that he is working with Consumer Focus to improve the quality of such advice.
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