Huge profits come at our cost, says charity

UK households are overpaying for their electricity following Ofgemset price controls, a charity has said.

Citizens Advice said households are “footing the bill for billions of pounds in excess profits” made by electricity distribution companies – the firms that own and operate the system of cables and pylons.

Last year the charity said that decisions by the regulator in the way it calculated price controls across the gas and electricity networks had cost consumers a total of £7.5 billion, or an average of £285 per household over the eight-year price control.

It has calculated that households in Merseyside and north Wales are entitled to a rebate of £125, while those in south-west England and northern Scotland should be given £110 back.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: “People across the country are overpaying on their energy bills because some network companies are making unjustified profits.”

An Energy Networks Association spokesman said: “The calculations underpinning this analysis are plucked out of thin air and run directly counter to the conclusions of the independent regulator and the Competition and Markets Authority.”