Rip-off energy prices are here to stay, even though watchdog has slammed the Big Six
I regularly feature the impact of dubious charging practice by big business on driving up the already heavier cost of powering rural homes. This article is more grist to that mill. It is a sign at how effective the big six have been in changing the narrative that very significant mis-selling can be taken in the authorities stride. The author of this article agrees. He tells us:
Despite the damning report published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday, the energy industry is likely to continue ripping us all off for many years to come.
We’ve seen so many reports criticising the Big Six suppliers, from government, consumer groups and the energy watchdog itself. In fact Ofgem became so fed up at proving unable to control the excesses of the industry it asked the CMA itself to conduct an investigation.
Despite the report, which revealed that around 70 per cent of people remain on unfair tariffs, I expect little to change. The CMA plans to get Ofgem to set up its own comparison site to help people find an independent, presumably not-for profit, answer to finding the best deal.
But, as we’ve discovered in the past, the big firms are skilled in finding ways to boost their ever-growing profits while millions in fuel poverty struggle to be able to heat their homes. The problem is that buying gas and electricity has changed in recent years.
Where we once paid what seemed a fair price to a responsible state-owned monopoly, since British Gas’s privatisation in 1986, most of us have ended up being charged an unfair price by a near-monopoly of six.